Beyond Infinite Dreams
by The Anime Sage
Summary: When he was young, he was 'Death's Shadow' and now he is the Deadbeat of Kuoh Academy but he didn't care as long as he had his loved ones. However, the Supernatural World isn't ready to let go of him yet and to make sure they get the message, he will take up his destined mantle and show them the 'Red Dragon of Domination'. Rewritten version is Seize Our Day.
1. Only Human

**Beyond Infinite Dreams**

 **Chapter 1: Only Human**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD. I do own the plot and concepts that I will use in the story.**

* * *

Hyoudou Issei was of the mind that if anything didn't go your way for a particular day, he was always reassured by the fact that fate would try much harder to make another day much worse. He didn't manage to get a particular wink of sleep last night going home from work at 4 in the morning.

Not to mention the fact that his bicycle was stolen yet again and so he had to walk to his apartment. It didn't end there as he ruffled through his pockets and bag to search for his keys when he remembered they were in the apartment itself. Issei referred back to the wonders of stress relief through continuous head banging on his wall, his landlady came along however and was gracious enough to open the door for him and would remind him for the umpteenth time not to forget his keys.

"Issei-chan, why are you always forgetting your keys?" The old lady smiled good-naturedly. She had grey hair and wore a dark blue kimono with snow patterns, she had striking blue eyes and a warm smile to her.

He honestly wondered which deity sent the old woman because she was always there to help him out.

"Sorry, Reiko-obaa-san. I'm just really tired. How's Olivia-chan?" He asked.

"Still sleeping, I caught her waiting for her big brother." Issei smiled sadly at that tidbit of information.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Issei-chan. She loves her big brother very much."

He muttered his thanks before dragging his legs inside with the old landlady reminding him of the rent that was due next week. His stomach grumbled in anger demanding to be fed and he robotically tried his best to enjoy the ramen cup for his late dinner/early breakfast. Once done, he stealthily made his way inside his little sister's room being careful not to disturb her. Issei's eyes settled on the small girl clutching the toy dragon. Issei's fingers stroked Olivia's hair and she snuggled deeper into the comforting hands. A range of emotions swirled in him; happiness, sadness, and shame. With a final glance, he left for his own room.

He didn't bother with taking his clothes off as he collapsed onto his bed, however, any amount of sleep that he got was too little before his alarm, cheerful in its job, blared loudly reminding him to get up. He lazily disconnected the power cord and settled in for a nice long rest, yet again, when Amaterasu decided that six o'clock was definitely the time to start the day. One eye opened in anger at the ray of the sun.

"One of these days, Amaterasu, one of these days…" Issei muttered. He rose from his bed almost not too dissimilar from the dead rising from the grave. He promptly turned around and closed the curtains, flopping back on his bed. He settled himself once again, a sigh of relief as he did so. He felt warm, comfortable and most of all relaxed. For two seconds.

"Onii-chan, onii-chan! Wake up, Onii-chan!" Issei could resist many things but there were very few that he couldn't. Namely his little sister, Olivia. She peered at him closely with honey-brown eyes in curiosity at his huddled form. He wrapped the blankets around him more tightly as she tugged it trying to wake up her older brother. She tugged a little too hard and saw his exhausted state. Issei only moaned tiredly and sagged to the floor.

"Ah, Onii-chan is scary!"

"Just tired, Olivia." He groaned while she giggled to herself.

* * *

Right now, his impression of a classic zombie was spot on as he walked to the school with two of his friends beside him.

"Oi oi, Issei, it's a fine morning we're having today!"

"A glorious day when you're in Kuoh academy where all the beauties are." The two friends beside him were Motohama and Matsuda respectively both having a reputation for being the biggest perverts in Kuoh Academy.

"Eh, 6/10," Issei commented dryly, rubbing away the crust in his eyes as he slouched forward.

"How could you say that Issei? Kuoh Academy is where all the girls are waiting for us to take them." Matsuda was a bald, former jock, currently in the photography club and a self-proclaimed lolicon.

"Indeed and it has the most talented and beautiful girls of the country as well." This was Motohama, who had the ability to tell a female's measurements just by looking at them which both unnerved and infuriated the ladies of Kuoh Academy and he was therefore dubbed 'Pervert Glasses' and 'Three Sizes Scouter'. It was an achievement that they weren't expelled from Kuoh for sexual harassment.

"Why am I friends with both of you?" Issei sighed deeply. It was known to everyone in Kuoh Academy about the Perverted Duo and their particular interests in seeing girls naked. Issei also had such an interest but was more restrained in that regard and perhaps what stood out from him and his friends were that he was subtle in his appreciation of the female form.

"Because Issei you are the one who understands us, our goals to..." Matsuda paused for effect.

"HAVING OUR OWN HAREM!"

Issei immediately kicked Matsuda from behind and pointed at him in indignation.

"Don't sink me to your level, I'm not looking for a harem." Poor Issei, the irony of those words.

"Disgusting perverts."

"Scum of the earth is what they are."

"Pigs."

Both Matsuda and Motohama sunk to the floor with a cloud over their head. Issei only shook his head at them both. "Maybe if you didn't shout your life goals in front of the girls you're making a harem with, they'd be slightly more receptive to you guys."

"The gods have abandoned me." Matsuda wailed, tears streaming.

"I'm gonna die a virgin." Motohama moaned in agony. Issei had enough of their self-pity and boot met ass as they fell forward.

* * *

Issei smacked his head onto his desk, a distinct feeling of utter exhaustion washed over him when he sat down. He angled his head upwards and saw the mischievous face of Aika Kiryuu staring down at him. Aika was a second-year student like Issei with loosely braided hair on both sides of her face, she had the curves and bust of a budding teenage girl that was accentuated by her uniform. She peered down behind her glasses and Issei could feel a headache coming on.

"Oh ho, tired on a Monday, did you spend all weekend pleasuring girls as a gigolo?"

"Go away." He moaned into his desk.

"Or was it your job as a stripper for the ladies in the red light district?"

"Are you always this annoying or is today special?" He glared half-heartedly.

"Oh you know I rejoice in the suffering of my best male friend." She pinched his cheek in amusement.

Issei smacked her hand away from him and sat up on his desk giving his full attention to the girl in front of him.

"If you really want to know, Meiko-sensei has been driving me and the other assistants crazy with her spontaneous ideas and deadlines."

"You could say that she's been riding you hard all weekend." She grinned perversely.

"Shut up."

"Fufufu!"

"Anyway, some asshole decided to steal my bike so I had to walk all the way home and my body is aching to go into a coma at any time now."

"That's rough and how's Olivia?"

"No."

"Aww, I was just asking how she was doing."

"The last time I let you near her I had to explain where babies came from, putting her outside of your influence is good for me."

"Hey, she got an early sex ed from her brother. That's a big plus in your book."

"She was five! Ah I swear you are a walking ball of lust and corruption, I'm surprised those two haven't keeled over from your presence." He pointed at the perverted duo still stuck in their cloud of self-pity and depression.

"I'm not that bad, I do have a lot of self-respect and dignity thank you very much." Ah yes, Aika was something of a boogeyman in the hallways of Kuoh Academy. Even though guys fantasise about girls coming after them, they did not expect Aika, who was so forward with her intentions that it frightened the small number of males in the academy away. She was the combination of the Perverted Duo and oh so much worse than them. Luckily, Issei was the best meat shield they could throw at her and the two struck up an odd friendship where he wasn't put off by her innuendos and she could use Issei to discuss every idea and fantasy that she had. Truly, a friendship forged in the fires of teenage hormonal lust and the tears of the frightened male population.

"Should I let slip about your size to the ladies, I'm sure you'll get a date."

"Do it and I swear I'll withdraw your dango privileges."

"You monster! Oddly enough, that IS the size of your di-" She began to say loudly which was muffled by Issei's hand. The students looked curiously in their direction and Issei had to withdraw his hand from her mouth which spotted a Cheshire grin.

"You are pure evil," Issei grumbled and Aika could only laugh at his misfortune.

* * *

Here we find the Perverted Duo enjoying the sights of the Kendo Club members undressing and Issei sleeping soundly against a wall as he tried to catch up on some sleep. Both were trying to catch a view of boobs however their inner greed to see some flesh caused a fight amongst themselves.

"Matsuda, it's my turn now!"

"Shut up Motohama, I can almost see it." Motohama shoved him aside and peeked.

"It's amazing!"

"Huh did you hear that?"

"Someone's peeping on us!"

Both boys panicked and stared at the almost comatose body of Issei, nodding their heads together and left Issei to his fate.

Issei blinked his eyes blearily as he felt something poke him on the side. Slowly, he looked up to see the members of the Kendo Club staring down at him in righteous feminine fury. All equipped with their shinai as well.

"Oh, this is not a good day."

"Just tell us where they are Hyoudou," Katase said serenely, that was betrayed by the aura of wrath around her and the other club members.

"Can't we sort this out in a civil manner?" Issei had sweat dripping down his brow and he tried to move away but his back met the wall.

"Oh we are going settle this civilly with this shinai hitting someone's crotch, repeatedly I might add, it's your choice whether it's yours or theirs," Murayama said sweetly.

'Ah shit.' He thought as they came closer to him. "Wait! Wait! Hold on! Alright if you're interested in beating someone, how about we settle this in a match?"

Seeing some of the unconvinced gazes from the ladies of the Kendo Club, Issei decided to give them some incentive. "If you win, I will be your personal gopher for the week in place of Matsuda and Motohama, you can order me to do anything you want while we're in school."

"Hmm, that is a tempting offer Hyoudou but what's in it for you?" Murayama said, her eyes still held scepticism in them.

"If I win, you have to leave Matsuda and Motohama alone and I'll make sure that they don't peep on you for a week. A win-win situation if you think about it." Issei offered.

"Alright, I accept your bet, meet us inside the Kendo Club after school."

'Great…'

* * *

'Oh good, the whole school is here'. Issei walked into the Kendo club spotting a large number of girls all waiting in the stands and giving him a glare, that would have combusted him on the spot and scattered the ashes to the wind.

'Huh never knew I was so popular.' He thought dryly until he spotted Matsuda and Motohama with a large amount of cash in hand.

"Place your bets here! All bets are here! See how long the deadbeat of the school can last against the Captain of the Kendo Club!" Issei growled seeing them run a betting pool and seeing that a lot of people were betting in favour of him losing.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you guys are doing!?"

"Ah, Issei! Thanks for taking the fall for us back there and we're using your total humiliation and defeat to our advantage." Matsuda stated matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry we'll give you a big cut for this golden opportunity," Motohama responded. "Plus we get to look at the girls here up close and not get in trouble for it."

Issei blinked, once then twice as an idea entered his mind. "Anyone else betting on me to win?"

"Aside from Aika, no-one is dumb enough to make that bet." Issei's jaw twitched in irritation before he shoved a couple of crumpled notes from his pocket into their hands. "I'll bet 4,000 yen on me. And when I win, I'll be sure to get my winnings from everyone who bet against me."

"You sure you want to lose your money too?" Matsuda said awkwardly as he held the notes in hand. Issei only turned around and spotted Aika, chin in hand as her perpetual grin was still in place.

"Thanks." Issei bowed his head as Aika perked up at the sight of him.

"You're welcome although are you really going to honour your agreement with Murayama?"

"Actually that reminds me I need to make an amendment on my side of the bet. By the way, how much did you bet on me?"

"Oh not much, only 10,000 yen." Issei almost stumbled when he walked away but was nonetheless touched by the faith she had in him. He walked up to the sparring mat to see Murayama outfitted in her traditional Kendo outfit.

"Are you ready to lose?" A cocky smirk was on lips as she said this.

"Actually, I'd like to make an amendment on my side of the bet." She frowned at this information and crossed her arms.

"Sorry but you can't change the bet at this stage."

"Oh, this will benefit you, if you listen." He walked up in whispered in her ear as her eyebrows raised before a smile was plastered on her face.

"I'll think I'll make an exception Hyoudou-san." She tossed him the helmet and shinai which Issei caught easily however he noticed something was missing like the armour that was supposed to protect him. "Wait...how come I only get the helmet and sword and you're decked out in armour?"

"I did say I would make an exception however it does come at a cost so do you still want to continue?" Issei sighed before putting the helmet on.

"The odds are stacked against me, pretty much everyone in the school is betting against me and no cup to protect my balls. Meh, this could be worse." Issei settled into a relaxed stance gripping the shinai in his left hand.

"Look the deadbeat doesn't even know how to hold a shinai."

"Oi, doesn't he sleep all day in class?"

"Are you not taking me seriously!?" Murayama fumed at seeing his relaxed stance.

"I'd figure you need the advantage, but are we really here to talk about my stance or are we going to fight?" He drawled, hoping to rile her up. He was proven correct when she launched forward with a jab which he managed to parry, spinning on his foot as he backpedalled away from the stabs to his midsection. She rushed forward, her bamboo sword aiming to strike at his neck but it was parried to side as his own sword rose and their helmets were only inches apart.

"Hmm, is that peach I smell?" Her assault was reinvigorated with that comment as he managed to continuously block every attack that she made. Stab, Slash, Thrust before the two wooden swords pushed against each other for dominance. One held in the traditional two hand grip and the other held in Issei's one-handed grip.

"You know, you're not so bad, Hyoudou," Murayama commented off-handedly sounding less antagonised and more eager.

"That's high praise coming from a two-time champion in the Japanese National Circuit." She could only blink in surprise before she was pushed back and she held her shinai in a closely. Issei shifted his hands and he held the sword with two hands.

Murayama narrowed her eyes as before she could find openings in his stances and now, the hairs on the back of her neck raised in anticipation of what he would do next.

"You're really amazing and I should pay my respects to your skill so now I will face you equally."

"And what makes you think that you're my equal?" She couldn't help but say arrogantly.

"Because you were holding back and you should know...so was I." Murayama found herself on the defensive as she had to use everything in her arsenal to keep from being hit. Until finally, a single stab to her abdomen ended that thought. She paused momentarily, feeling the pain in her abdomen and Issei pulled back giving her time to recover.

"You are full of surprises today, Hyoudou."

"...I think you may be overestimating my skills here." Wood smacked against wood as they continued their exchange, Murayama's sword struck his shoulder and Issei's struck her shoulder pads.

"You let me hit you." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"Can you prove it?" A challenging smirk on his lips.

"I guess I'll have to beat it out of you." Her strikes became ferocious, focused as they continued with the intent to hit him, each strike brushed past his uniform leaving cuts as if an actual blade was in her hand.

All thoughts of the bet were forgotten in her mind as she focused entirely on this spar, no, this dance. The feeling of exhilaration, the thrill of the battle with an opponent that was her equal and yet so much stronger that he was driving her past her limits. Nothing was said between them as the wooden swords smacked loudly in the club, no-one said anything in awe of the duel between them.

She didn't know how long this had been going on for, minutes or hours, she had lost herself in this fight and then a window of opportunity appeared. Issei had left himself open for a decisive strike that would knock him out. He was already in the middle of a strike and she could pull back and hit him sending him out of the ring.

The shinai gripped tightly in her hand cut through the empty air and then pain exploded from her abdomen once more as Issei's shinai splintered and she tumbled outside the sparring mats. The look of total shock was clear on her face and she would never forget the fierce determination that she saw in his eyes.

Silence descended as Murayama struggled to get up to her feet, her breaths ragged and the shinai was barely assisting her in getting up but she managed to hold on weakly.

"W-We're not done yet, Hyoudou." Issei's face snapped in surprise and Murayama was about to move forward to strike before her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell forward only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. She groaned as the pain in her side flared once again before looking up to see honey-brown eyes trained on him in concern, his shinai and helmet forgotten.

"You're pretty good, Issei." Those were her last words before she fell unconscious.

* * *

After bringing Murayama to the nurse's office and seeing that the nurse was about to question the state of his uniform, Issei left and came back to the club only to be met with a mixed reception ranging from fear to anger and shock, at his accomplishments which unnerved him but he put on a brave face. He reached Aika who held up his winnings to him which he pocketed before he turned to the Perverted Duo who were ready to hightail it outta there.

"Where do you think you guys are going?" He grabbed both of them by the back of their shirts and they turned their heads robotically seeing the aura of wrath surrounding Issei.

"H-hey, Issei, did you get your winnings?" Matsuda stammered, sweat pouring down his face.

"Y-yeah, see you win and you got lots of money and we don't get beat up win-win," Motohama responded in the same tone.

"I actually changed the bet on my part, instead I reduced the time that you have before the Kendo Club gets you again to 5," Issei stated calmly before he released them.

"5 what? 5 days? 5 weeks?...5 months!" They both said feeling their hopes soaring. The entire Kendo Club was behind the two and they were itching to get their revenge on them. Matsuda and Motohama's hopes were dashed however when Issei began to count down.

"4...3...2…" The duo learned that day that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. The two walked away missing the curious gaze of the handsome 'Prince' of the school and he left the club to inform his master of the developments that had transpired.

"Whoo, you were amazing back there. The way you stabbed and thrust your stick at her, at every angle and you rammed it in until she was left panting exhausted at the end." Issei paused before turning to her with an incredulous expression.

"Does everything have to be a sex joke with you?"

"Yes." Was her blunt reply. "But still that was literally unbelievable what you did back there."

"It's not that hard, you saw it yourself."

"You struck a girl so hard in the stomach that you shattered the shinai you were using against her without her armour I'm sure she should be in the hospital at this moment."

"I did not mean for that to happen." He raised the bruised hands that were beginning to purple and Issei swore that he heard a gasp of concern from her.

"Why didn't you get something for your hands when you were at the nurses' office?" She hissed, grabbing his wrists to inspect them.

"I'm fine, this is nothing." He tried to pull away from her surprisingly strong grip.

"It's not nothing, Issei, we're going to get some bandages at least." Aika dragged the protesting boy to the large supermarket unaware of the small smile that graced Issei's lips momentarily.

"I hate Mondays, I have zero sleep over the weekend, I injure the captain of the Kendo Club and now pretty much everyone are either afraid or they hate me. On the plus side, I have enough to pay for rent this month which is nice." Issei leant against the railing staring at the sunset after assuring Aika that he would be fine in getting home. He began talking to himself in the hopes of getting a response from his partner. He waited for a while only to be met with silence and a heavy sigh left his lips. "Who am I kidding that's a pretty weak reason for hurting Murayama like that."

'Damn it, why do I did have to lapse out of control like that? I hurt a really nice girl not to mention she was cute too so that makes me more of an asshole now.'

Issei was broken out of his thoughts of self-loathing to turn to a girl that had snuck up on him. That or he was way too deep in thought but that didn't matter, the young woman before him was beautiful, Issei had to admit to himself, long black hair that reached her hips and violet eyes. She wore a school uniform that he had never seen before.

"A-are you Hyoudou Issei?" The mystery girl asked.

"Yes, I am."

"Tha-that's great! So, um, Issei-kun do you have a-a girlfriend?" She asked shyly pulling at her skirt.

"No." He said lamely. This situation was entirely unexpected for him and the best response he could give was so pathetic, he felt the urge to face-palm right there and then.

"Really? Then would you like to go out with me!?" She said quickly.

"Huh?" Shock took over exasperation quickly in that moment.

"Since you don't have a girlfriend, WOULD YOU PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!?" She said loudly, this time with her head bowed.

Issei blinked once, twice and his mouth hung open in shock. 'Holy shit, this isn't happening, no way is a girl confessing that she likes me and wants to be my girlfriend? There is no way that this is a cruel ploy to kill me. So how to go about this? Alright Issei, just act normal.'

"Uh." Was Issei's ever intelligent response. 'Great job, dumbass.'

"I understand if you don't want to." She bowed her head sadly. 'Gotta salvage the situation.'

"I mean yes I would like to go out with you. But who are you?" He asked curiously.

"My name is Yuuma, Yuuma Amano." They exchanged numbers and she waved at Issei before leaving.

"Huh, I got a date." He stared at the digits between his fingers, scrutinising it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Hmm, today's a good day."

And so he turned towards home before looking over his shoulder for the moment, peering at the shadows momentarily only to turn away as a white-haired girl stepped out.

* * *

The moon hung high in the sky as Kuoh's nightlife bustled about and for one lone high school student this afforded her the opportunity to think.

Aika wandered aimlessly through the streets carrying her bag of groceries, her thoughts turning to her enigmatic best friend and the events that transpired today. She had known Issei when he first came to Kuoh Academy, he was quiet, reclusive and quite handsome when she saw him but he had made no effort to be outstanding or extraordinary unlike Kiba Yuuto, the Prince of Kuoh Academy, with his good looks and charming attitude had captured the hearts of many girls.

Yet, Issei was content to be that, average, and gravitated to the two students with an infamous reputation 'The Perverted Duo' and naturally the girls feared that the duo would become a trio. The ladies could breathe a sigh of relief as Issei had more or less mitigated the duo's perverted tendencies.

And she remembered the day when she decided to sate her curiosity and had talked to him, he had replied curtly to her attempts at friendship but undeterred employed more of her 'unusual' topics into their conversation. She was surprised when instead of discomfort, he was amused and she managed to use that opening to become friends with him.

She was broken out of her reverie as she passed an alleyway where she was roughly grabbed by a couple of tattooed men. Her bag fell to the ground as she struggled in their grasp.

"Just stay quiet now." The man growled. "Or the boys will get to sample the product if you scream."

Aika struggled, seeing four more of them near a truck. Three other girls from what she could see were bound and gagged, tears streaming down their faces. She roughly shoved her elbow into his throat where he choked loosening his grip and swung her fist into the other man's stomach.

"That was a big mistake girl." The man pulled out a switchblade and inched closer while she took a step back further into the alleyway. The men moved closer, lecherous grins on their faces as Aika held the frightened expression until her back touched the wall.

"Hahaha, Kuro, she's a feisty one, isn't she?" A man howled in laughter seeing Kuro get closer.

"Oh she's my type alright and I can't wait to break her in and by the end of tonight you'll be screaming my name." Aika's expression changed to that of a sadistic grin.

"Are you sure about that?" Her eyes flashed dangerously from hazel to red. "Because I'll be the one that will make you scream."

Leather wings ripped from her back and her canines elongated, showing the deadly smirk that settled on her lips. "What's wrong? You don't like little ol' me anymore? Are the Yakuza too afraid of a girl?"

The men shook at the sight of the monstrous girl before them and the only thing standing between them was the switchblade in his hand. "What the hell are you!?"

She didn't answer disappearing in a burst of speed, wrenching the man with switchblade into the shadows as his screams echoed, dying as all the other men pulled their guns.

"Daisuke, Nobu, Tatsuo, get the product and go." Three of the men broke off towards the truck.

"Aww, you don't want to play anymore? Too bad because I'm not done playing with you." Her voice bounced all over the place and the Yakuza couldn't help but feel the fear creeping inside them. The sensation of a predator watching. A beast in the dark waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

A shadow flitted past their vision grabbing Nobu as he fired his gun wildly, they all took aim at where she was but by then she was gone and only three remained.

A whistling sound pierced the air and into Tatsuo's shoulder as he cried in agony at the knife buried there.

"Ah fuck, Izumo, help me!" The injured man shouted grasping his shoulder tenderly but he was silenced as Aika dragged him in the dark, his screeches haunting the last thugs.

"Forget this, I'm outta here." Daisuke tossed away his gun and made a break for the exit before a bullet entered his chest and he fell down to the ground.

"Fucking coward," Izumo growled, the sub-machine in his hands pointed wildly. The only sounds left was Daisuke's dying groans and the clatter of debris in the alleyway. A rustle by the dumpster and a hail of bullets flew where it was.

Izumo's fingers twitched and his eyes narrowed trying to peer through the darkness but his frustrations got the better of him. "Where are you!?"

"Here." A whisper and his world turned black.

Aika leant down, her fangs piercing his neck and blood flowed down her throat before she ripped it away, sensing someone at the entrance of the alleyway.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here, Aika." A boy, dressed in a familiar uniform was crouched down by Daisuke and any sense of satisfaction or pleasure that she felt from taking down the gangsters was slowly being overwhelmed by dread.

The boy moved forward, his form illuminated by a streetlight and Aika uttered one word.

"Issei."


	2. A Favour to the Fallen

**Author's Note**

 **TheAnimeSage: Hello readers, welcome to this pet project and as you may have noticed, I did not leave an author's note for the last chapter, I just wanted to get a feel for how my readers would react to this story which is amazing considering that this has 1,000 views now. Anyway, I found myself interested in this fanfiction mainly for the potential that it had but Highschool DxD knows what it is and doesn't take itself too seriously so why not make it more serious and revamp what could've have been. I'll try my best to update this story on a weekly basis.**

 **RizomataNyan: Thank you and Issei will be a wildcard in the supernatural world.**

 **ferodile: Yes, there will be a harem. It's Highschool DxD.**

 **hellfire45: You'll have to wait and see.**

 **preboo: Yeah, I can't wait to see where this story is going as well.**

 **montyblack101: Refer to the author's note.**

 **HeavensDownfall: Does this chapter answer your question?**

 **Karlos1234ify: Aika Kiryuu, a succubus...who knows?**

 **War historian: Yeah, the first two no. But some of the others maybe. Aika, definitely.**

 **VorpalHaze: Well I do want people to get hooked on this story and hopefully this story will be fun.**

 **dvsdomingue: Thank you for your words of encouragement.**

 **simple405: I aim to be unique in this story and hey a realistic friendship (in my mind) is what I present in the story.**

 **Verno Rayan: Your kind words have inspired TheAnimeSage to write a little better.**

 **YoungTrapLord: When writing this, a chapter is around 13-15 pages, which is unexpectedly a lot of work but as I'm getting the hang of writing, I hope the process goes a little faster.**

 **the DragonBard: The line was more of a throwaway joke and it was sort of a way to keep his cover.**

 **Sasuke75249: Thank you very much.**

 **Shoutout to these inspirational authors go check out their work: Kur0Kishi, The Engulfing Silence, Kenchi618, Coeur Al'Aran, Paynis and SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.**

* * *

 **Beyond Infinite Dreams**

 **Chapter 2: A Favour to the Fallen**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.**

* * *

"Issei." She breathed quietly as the aforementioned boy stepped closer into the light, holding two plastic bags in hand.

"Good job, taking down the Yakuza, I'm sure they'd be happy about this mess," Issei remarked as he surveyed the fallen body and jabbed him with a toe. "I'm digging the Batman thing you got going, really bringing out the whole 'I am the night!'"

"You're not afraid of me?" Seeing the boy calmly stroll up to her shattered her fears on discovering her secret. She had always expected many kinds of reactions when someone was faced with the supernatural, case in point, being the thugs that she took down. Aika tried to probe more for a reaction. "But what about the wings and the fangs? That doesn't scare you?" Secretly, she hoped that he wouldn't reject her but Issei was turning out to surprise her more every day.

"Aika, you really must not know me very well if you growing wings and fangs are going to scare me off." The way that Issei accepted this situation with such nonchalance and disinterest should have rubbed her the wrong way but she knew deep down that this was so like him.

"You're taking this rather well."

"Trust me, Aika, you are not in the top ten list of the weirdest/strangest things I've seen and I really hate you for the fact that you put Boku no Pico as number 7." He walked calmly towards the back of the truck where the girls fell unconscious from fright at hearing the screams and he dialled 110.

"Hey, Boku no Pico is art, don't go dissing it!" To a casual observer, it would look rather strange that a vampiric-looking person was arguing with a high school student if a hentai shotacon was a spawn of hell sent to traumatise all those who watched it or a gift from heaven that fulfilled every girl's yaoi fantasy. Aika retracted her wings and took back her grocery bags with a huff.

"Alright, it's late, Aika, and I really don't want to have this discussion in an alleyway so do you want to stay over at my apartment?" Issei offered.

"Oh, you're inviting me? That's really forward of you." They both walked out, irritation clear on Issei and a chirpy smile on Aika.

* * *

 **\- Issei's Apartment Complex -**

Both of them were walking up the stairs to his apartment, chatting amicably as the moon hung high in the sky with the buzzing noise of the streetlights to accompany them.

"You know what happened today? I got a date," Issei said, showing the number in hand.

"What? Blasphemy." Aika turned to him stunned in an open-mouth shock, snatching the digits from his hands.

"I thought you'd be happy." He looked at her in confusion as throughout his entire time knowing her she had been adamant about getting him a girlfriend, some might say that being friends with Aika was sure to get you the best wing woman.

"No, Issei, anytime I try to set you up with a girl you always take the friend zone route, it's like you're trying to cock-block yourself." She pouted adorably crossing her arms under her bust which to Issei's watchful eyes seemed to have grown. She had a mischievous grin when she saw him ogling her. "Like what you see?"

"It's kinda hard not to notice how you went up from C to D-cup." Issei wouldn't admit it but it took him a lot longer to tear his gaze away. "You are a full-vampire, right?"

"Not exactly." She murmured, her bust reducing in size.

He opened the door only to be met with a flying brown-haired missile known as Olivia.

"Onii-chan!" The girl's tiny arms wrapped around his waist as he patted her head. Olivia's attention turned to Aika and she brightened up. "Onee-chan!"

"Hey there, Olivia. Taking care of your big brother?" She crouched down to meet the girl's eyes and she nodded happily with a bright smile.

"Issei-chan, are you home?" Reiko greeted from the kitchen, in her kimono outfit and her radiant demeanour despite her age put Aika at ease.

"Yes, obaa-san." He replied in earnest taking off his shoes as Olivia scampered back inside the apartment.

"Issei-chan, who's this lovely friend of yours?" Aika bowed in respect.

"Obaa-san, this is Aika Kiryuu, my best friend, and Aika, this is my lovable landlady and occasional caretaker for Olivia, Reiko-obaa-san." The kindly landlady bowed back before pinching Issei's ear.

"What have I told you about telling introducing me as a grandmother?" Issei grunted in pain as Reiko continued to apply more pressure, her smile never wavering.

"It's not a lie, you're not exactly getting any younger. Ow! Ow! Sorry! I give!" He rubbed his ear in pain but Reiko still had her kindly look and Aika knew then and there, not to cross her.

"You don't look that old, Reiko-san." Aika chipped in. "Issei just doesn't know how to treat a lady respectably."

"I think we're going to get along just fine, please join us for dinner. We'll be making katsudon, assuming that Issei bought the ingredients this time." He held up the bag as proof and Reiko immediately made her way to the kitchen. Issei turned to Aika and with a glance knew what she was going to do.

"Aika, you are not allowed to corrupt Olivia anymore on your stay here." He crossed his arms showing how serious he was and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Yes, dad." Issei's eye twitched at her response.

* * *

 _"A world of silence. I would like to return to the Dimensional Gap that is my home... and reclaim that silence. That is all." Emotionless grey eyes peered out into the world staring at nothing and everything._

 _"But why?" The boy asked in curiosity as he stood next to a small girl in a gothic lolita dress._

 _"Because Great Red has taken... my home. I wish to take it back." She replied in true monotone._

 _"That's stupid." He stated bluntly as the girl shifted her gaze to him._

 _"How?" Her tone never changed but she enquired why her goal was 'stupid' to say the least._

 _"I mean you go to all this trouble just so you can go back to existing in perpetual nothingness, that's kinda redundant."_

 _"That is my goal and what is your goal?"_

 _"I want to live my life." The boy stated with conviction, his brown eyes shimmering with hope and excitement._

 _"Are you not alive?"_

 _"No, what I mean is I want to experience life to the fullest so when I die, I'll do so without any regrets." The boy said with a melancholic smile._

 _"I don't understand." Truly to her, she could not comprehend the concept of living as she was born from nothing and existed in the infinite nothingness that was the dimensional gap._

 _"Then, how about we experience life together before you return to the dimensional gap?"_

 _"Okay...I will experience...living...before going back to the silence."_

 _"Ophis, starting today, I'm gonna teach you how to live."_

* * *

 **\- Issei's Apartment -**

Issei awoke to a warm feeling pressed down on his chest and he hugged that warm feeling, his sleep-addled mind quickly reasoning that Olivia must have snuck into his room again. It was only when he realised that the warm feeling extended to his legs did Issei open his eyes and lo behold was Aika. Naked with her mounds pressed against his chest.

"Morning." She greeted with half-lidded eyes and the corners of her mouth slid upwards into a smile that he was growing to like on her.

"What are you doing in my bed?" His calm composure was slowly being broken by his rapidly hardening member.

"You don't remember last night?" She pressed her body closer to him and that goddamn sly grin was still on her face.

"I'm having trouble recollecting at the moment." He was trying hard to think of some unpleasant thoughts to kill his erection. 'Damn you Aika!'

"Well Reiko-san allowed me to stay in your room, you kinda fell asleep in your katsudon last night."

"That still doesn't explain why you're in my bedroom." He shifted to move away and she relented resting her cheek in the palm of her hands as the sheets fell away to reveal her breasts which Issei didn't help his current situation.

"Reiko allowed me to stay in your room to keep you company, said it would help keep away the nightmares." His eyes dulled at the mention of nightmares which Aika seemed to have noticed as she put a hand comfortingly on him. "Issei?"

Issei's eyes brightened before he climbed out of bed and towards the bathroom. "Well, that's Reiko-obaa-san always worrying about me. I'll use the shower first."

"Isn't it polite for the guests to use it first?" She shot back after him.

"I am not waiting half an hour for you to use the bathroom." She laughed melodically at that before she settled back into bed but she wouldn't forget to prod Issei about his nightmares later.

Both Issei and Aika bid Reiko and Olivia farewell after an enjoyable breakfast that included much laughs from Aika as Reiko told many embarrassing stories about her tenant much to Issei's dismay. Issei's face was much livelier in comparison to yesterday, he stood up straighter, his shoulders were less slumped and he had a smile in the morning. In the morning.

"You seem less like you today." Aika's observation immediately confused Issei as he turned to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Issei, for all his wit and perception, couldn't really see past the image that he set up as the Deadbeat of Kuoh Academy mainly due to his tendency to sleep in class and general apathetic attitude.

"You're happy and upbeat, it's kinda weird whenever I see you which is stone-cold dead and lethargic." Brown eyes turned to her with a deadpan expression which she couldn't help but giggle at.

"You're hilarious but I digress to last night, you said you weren't a full vampire is that the reason why you haven't exploded into dust right now?"

"Well, my weaknesses are somewhat dampened by the fact that I'm half-vampire and half-succubus." Issei nodded to that before a look of realisation dawned on him.

"That explains so much right now. Wait why do you need to suck blood? You're a succubus can't you syphon the lust from Matsuda and Motohama?"

"Half-succubus, remember. I have to directly get life energy from a person whether it's saliva, blood, sweat or semen. And my vampiric side needs life energy to sustain myself except I only need to do it once every month. By the way, how the hell do you know this stuff anyway?"

"I dabble in a lot of things but back on topic, if you need blood, why don't you ask me?" Aika was surprised at what he was offering.

"Y-you'd let me do that?"

"Of course, why not?" She stood there dumbfounded as he continued to walk on without a care in the world.

"Issei, a lot of people wouldn't really want someone much less a vampire to suck the fluids from their neck."

"Isn't blood delicious for you?"

"Nope blood tastes bland but kaa-san basically said that my succubus side is much stronger and is more inclined to getting another body fluid."

"What?" Aika sighed at his confused glance.

"Sex, Issei. I can get life energy if I have sex." She said bluntly and was amused by Issei's reaction as his cheeks coloured momentarily.

"I'm guessing that you haven't tried yet."

"I don't need to, blood was good enough for me and besides a girl's first time is always special." They walked together in comfortable silence reaching the gates and she waved goodbye. "Thanks for the offer, Issei and I'll come to you whenever I get thirsty."

He lifted his thankfully-healed hands to see Aika run off to meet with her own friends and watched as Matsuda and Motohama were rushing forward to meet him.

* * *

 **\- Kuoh Academy -**

Shitori Souna known as the Student Council President of Kuoh Academy however, to her family, friends, peerage and her rival, she was Sona Sitri. She gazed at the enigmatic brunette with her analytical violet eyes. She wore the standard uniform that hugged her slim figure and her black was styled in a short bob cut before her glasses flashed moving forward to the clubroom where her vice-president, Tsubaki, was waiting for her. Tsubaki was another beauty as well with long black hair extending all the way to her knees, a considerable bust and her face was framed by a pair of spectacles that brought attention to her violet and brown eyes. The door was opened by her to reveal the Two Great Ladies of Kuoh Academy with Rias sitting on the sofa chair, a chessboard set in front of her and Akeno waiting by her side.

"Good morning, Sona," She greeted cordially.

"Good morning, Rias, I see you made yourself welcome." She observed as she sat down opposite of her opponent and rival.

"To enjoy our weekly game, how have you been?" Rias as always made the first move with a pawn.

"Busy, there have been very few developments with the exception of Issei and Murayama's match from yesterday." Sona contemplated on her move, before bringing a knight piece forward.

"Yes, I heard as much from Kiba. Issei is showing some interesting skills, particularly his swordsmanship. I would have never pegged him as the type." Rias was indeed surprised by the news that her knight, Yuuto Kiba, brought to her and she made a note of that putting him as another potential knight but she would have to wait for further observation until she was sure.

"Rias, your claim to him will expire soon if you don't make a move. I'm sure if you don't want him then I can take Issei off your hands." Rias paused, her hand hovering over her pawn before switching over to a bishop.

"I'm just waiting for the opportune moment to recruit him," Rias responded curtly.

"Then as your friend and rival, I'd advise you to do so quickly otherwise any chance that you have will vanish." They continued their game once more in earnest with both their queens standing in behind them in silence. "You had him observed."

"Naturally. Koneko tailed him yesterday after he left the Kendo Club with Aika. A fallen angel made contact with him." Sona's glasses glinted in speculation on what this possibility could mean. "I fear that the Fallen Angel will try to kill him for his Sacred Gear using their future date as an excuse."

"Koneko must have sensed her negative emotions and ill-intent if you were able to verify that." Rias chose the moment to stare at the board, deep in thought, before moving another piece. Sona pondered on the information presented to her before she spoke up,"You plan to use his death to bring him into your peerage."

It wasn't a question but a statement and if the indication that Rias' brow twitched at having her plan revealed to her, Sona was safe in her guess.

"The opportunity did present itself to me, I suppose however I would have liked it if he didn't have to die." The red-headed devil couldn't help shake her head at that but she steeled herself that beggars couldn't be choosers. She had desperately hoped after all that someone would come along to shift the situation in her favour. And that person was Issei.

"Have you made any progress concerning your contract with Riser?" Sona spoke up which put a frown on Rias' delicate features as she narrowed her eyes.

"With Issei's recruitment, I hope that it will be enough." A poor move on Rias part was the opportunity that Sona needed to capitalise on the advantage given to her.

"What makes Issei special? Sure he has a Sacred Gear unless..." The bespectacled girl eyes' widened in realisation before she mentally kicked herself for giving Rias the time to take Issei into her peerage. If he possessed a powerful Sacred Gear and she speculated that it could potentially be a Longinus then it was no wonder why Rias seemed to have a fixation on him.

"Issei possesses a Longinus Sacred Gear and Koneko has confirmed it for me, he has a scent of a dragon something which is beneficial for me." She moved another piece before concluding that the game has come to a draw yet again. She moved from her seat and left the clubroom with Akeno, bidding her rival farewell.

'Issei, I really hope you are the one who will change my fate.'

* * *

 **\- Outside Kuoh Academy -**

Issei was lounging comfortably against a tree with Aika sipping on a juice box as Matsuda and Motohama had gone off to peek on the Kendo Club again despite their beating at their hands, their decision to test their luck would end poorly for them.

Issei looked to the white clouds above like big balls of cotton swimming in the blue sea above him. The cloud was a wonderful sight to behold. So free with no worries.

"What would it be like to be a cloud? Drifting in the sky?"

"I'd imagine I'd be very wet." Issei could give her that, that was a good play on words. "Any more questions you have about vampire biology or are you all tapped out?"

"Oh, I barely scratched the surface but it's got me wondering, do vampires drink menstrual blood or is that just gross?"

"That was a fad way back in the 1900s that the male vampires got into which I assume was their fetish." She finished her juice box and played around with the grass enjoying the shade the tree offered her.

"Have you tried to drink one before?" Issei was expecting Aika to laugh it off but when he turned his head, he saw her slowly reddening face and he sat up instantly.

"You didn't." He whispered in disbelief before bursting out into a fit of laughter. "You did."

"S-shut up! I only did it once." She whacked him on the arm but he couldn't stop howling with laughter, rolling around on the grass as he wraps his mind around the outright hilarious admission.

"Oh, that's precious." He wiped away a tear in mirth before settling down but his eyes narrowed when he saw a commotion on the side of the building. Choosing to investigate it, he made his way over and saw that there were a crowd of students, a few second years and a whole lot of third years surrounding the first year. She had white hair that was held back by two cat-shaped clips, hazel eyes that conveyed no emotion and wore the female uniform sans the shoulder cape. He was curious on why they were surrounding her perhaps to get an autograph from the adorable girl until the words left the third-years mouth.

"C'mon, just do a little dance for us aren't you the school mascot?" One of the boys jeered, someone Issei recognised as the snobby type who got here through money than hard work.

"Yeah, do it for Kaido-senpai, we've got a treat for you if you do." They all laughed boisterously at that and Issei made his way forward.

"Hey, hey what's with all the bullying? Are you trying to compensate for all that ego?" He calmly commented.

"Who the hell-oh it's the deadbeat, what are you doing here?" Kaido sneered at Issei as if the mere sight disgusted him.

"Here, oh this is where I go to study. You know the academy where I worked hard and paid my ass to get into unlike someone here." The dig at Kaido seemed to have infuriated him and he walked up to Issei, whispering to him dangerously, "What did you say?"

"Oh, isn't it sad for all of you lot to force yourself on someone? Taunting and bullying a girl to do what you say, now what does that say about you? About all of you?" He punctuated it by looking into the eyes of some of the boys, who looked down in shame at his words, and back to Kaido. "Is it so hard for you to be gentlemen at this school? Is it so hard to be courteous and polite to a girl now?"

He could see the crowd murmuring to themselves as well as the girls nodded to what he said and there were uneasy looks from some of the guys. Aika was looking at him in concern and he nodded back to her, assuring her that he had the situation under control.

"Or was it easy for you to ignore all that?" A fist struck Issei in the face and he was down on the ground, the taste of copper in his mouth.

"Hitting you, Hyoudou, that was easy." Kaido sneered again and was about to kick him in the stomach before Issei kicked him down, dirtying his uniform.

"Look at that, Kaido, rolling around in the dirt, how does it feel to be one of us?" Issei laughed before he was pulled up by some of his lackeys. The glare that Kaido had didn't scare Issei but the fist that was buried in his stomach sent his message on what his feelings were.

"Did you feel that?" He continued to punch him in the ribs before he found his nose smashed by Issei's forehead, blood pouring down his face. "You, you bastard!"

Issei feeling their hold loosen from the surprise headbutt ducked behind them, shoving one of the guys to the side and striking the other in the face three times with his elbow before he was surprised by a cheap shot to the face from more of Kaido's friends and he stood in front of the first year girl protectively.

"Hehe really insulted that it's gonna take six chumps to take me down." He brought his arms up protectively in front of him and he could feel his eye getting swollen from the last hit to his face.

"You're going to regret that, Hyoudou." Kaido scowled at him, waiting for all his friends.

"Not as much as you are." He turned his head to Koneko and the blood trailing down his mouth but he still held a smile, one brimming with confidence and kindness, that Koneko couldn't help widen her eyes. "Don't worry...What's your name?"

"...Koneko." She said in a monotone but there was some concern in her voice and that was all he needed to drive himself forward. His eyes turned back to the growing crowd and he spotted Aika, he shot her smile before shooting forward.

"I'll teach these guys a lesson, Koneko."

They all charged and he met them in kind, their fists sailing forward and he tilted his head just so they grazed him but what scared them the most was the manic smile that he had. He pulled one of them into a headlock, the sole of his shoe slamming straight into a boy's chin who went down like a sack of potatoes as blood flew through the air. He slammed the teen, who he had in a headlock, to the ground knocking the wind out of him before his world turned to black, courtesy of Issei's fist. Issei staggered forward, ducking down from another strike at him aimed to put him down before he returned one in kind, jabbing at the boy's solar plexus whose eyes widened at the pain that he was experiencing and he clutched his stomach in agony. Issei had the wind knocked out of him when Kaido kneed him in the stomach but he poked him in the eyes, who screamed at the excruciating pain before tossing him towards another one of his friends where they went down in a heap.

'Two down, Kaido and his friend are out of the way for the moment, the guy I punched is getting back up and the last one is still fresh. Gotta take him down.' Issei charged forward with a cry, tackling the Kaido's other friend to the ground before nailing him with forearm blows. He spat blood once more before feeling a debilitating blow to his side but he rolled with the pain. He stood again chuckling as the last three guys watched him warily.

"What are you waiting for? Come on."

"What is going on here?" A frosty voice interrupted as Sona strode forward with Tsubaki by her side.

"Just something I said that Kaido seemed to disagree with." He spat out a glob of blood before making his way over to Koneko.

Sona turned her head surveying the situation before making her judgement on the situation seeing the groaning boys and the fact that Koneko was the one being bullied stoked an anger in her but she couldn't imagine what Rias' reaction would be.

"Are you okay?" He made his way over to Koneko who nodded but frowned cutely at seeing his injured state. He winced as he felt a hand on his shoulder but seeing the concern in Aika's face, made him feel a guilty for worrying her like that.

"...No...thank you, senpai." Koneko's voice was monotone when she said that but he could hear the gratitude in them.

"You're welcome." He said with a smile, carefully hiding the fact that his ribs hurt like hell. "Now I think I should head to the nurse's office, I really can't see out of my right eye now."

With Aika's assistance, he was about to leave when the diminutive stu-co president was in front of him.

"Care to explain your side of the events?"

"Like I said, Kaichou, Kaido didn't like to what I said but I'm willing to accept any punishment you give me if it means defending the honour of my kouhai." Sona was stuck in a predicament here, if she gave a harsh punishment here and now then it would ruin her reputation as Kaichou and she would come off as frigid and unfair but if she let him go off scot-free then the students would see that she was too lenient and that it would give them a chance to walk over her and she couldn't allow that. Resigning herself, her violet eyes met Issei's brown ones, "Meet me later after school so we can discuss the terms of your punishment, and in future don't get into any more fights."

"As you wish, Kaichou." He acquiesced, wincing at the pain that flared in his sides again. Issei and Aika walked away from Sona's watchful gaze before a thought came to her and she would have to ask Rias for forgiveness later if she were to follow through with her plan.

* * *

 **\- Nurse's Office -**

"Look what you did now, all the ladies are sure to come after you, protecting our school mascot like a knight in shining armour." Aika couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her.

"Or a terrifying dragon protecting the princess from unworthy knights." He laid down on the bed as the nurse dabbed at his eye gingerly with care.

"Thanks for bringing him in, Aika-san. You can go back to class." The girl nodded before leaving, wishing him to get better soon.

"Ara, Issei-kun, it isn't enough that I find you sleeping in one of my beds now you're getting into fights." The nurse had golden eyes with her long auburn hair tied up, she wore an orange turtleneck, that didn't hide her generous bust rather it showed how stacked she was, and black pants with a white lab-coat. This nurse was known to many of the students of Kuoh Academy as Tamamo and her beauty could be called divine with many speculating her to be on par with the Two Great Ladies themselves.

"Anything to be under your tender mercies, Tamamo-chan." He hissed in pain as she continued to dab his eye with alcohol before he turned to her. "Aren't you going to heal me?"

"I am healing you, it's just going to take a while for the swelling to go down." She said with a mischievous grin, one that was not so commonplace on the nurse.

"Oh, I get it you're mad that I didn't come to you yesterday." She dabbed harder and he yelped before the kind smile was back in place. "Damnit, why do women always like to take pleasure in causing me pain?"

"It's to get it into your skull to stop doing stupid things like telling us not to draw attention and you go off and do the opposite." There was a silence as Issei digested the admonishment that he was given from the older woman. He couldn't fault her for that, but it was in his instincts to show dominance whether it was in a match against Murayama or the slugfest with Kaido and his gang. "I saw your handiwork yesterday, left a big bruise on Murayama-san but I healed her and told her that you just smacked her hard enough to break your stick and nothing more."

"In my defence, she was really getting into it, you should have seen the spirit she had in her. She had the instincts of a true warrior." He said wistfully.

"Are you scouting for more people this time?" Tamamo finished wiping away the grime and blood of his face to see that his swollen eye had gone down to half its size.

"No, no, just paying my respects to a swordsman."

"Miyamoto-kun would be curious to know who's got your interest."

"It's a good thing that he's off in Kyoto…" Issei paused before turning to Tamamo in confusion. "Actually, what is he doing in Kyoto?"

"Apparently he's there to meet the locals and get to know the landscape again." Once seeing that his face was okay apart from the black shiner, she opened up his shirt and saw the bruises on his torso and using all the medical professionalism that she had, she managed to suppress a blush before tenderly poking at his ribs.

"You could have taken them all down without breaking a sweat so why did you allow them to hit you?" He hissed as she poked another rib before taking out some bandages and wrapping it around his torso.

"There are still some people watching so why not act like a high schooler, getting into fights with people that I don't like, trying to get a date with a girl, be average, be normal." Tamamo stopped her ministrations and looked him in the eye.

"Oh, Issei-kun, you'll never be normal, look at the people you surround yourself with and look at you. You'll always be the bravest and the kindest man who saved me, who gave your life for strangers because you couldn't stand watching injustice. You battled powerful men and women with nothing but your wit and your will and that makes you so much more. The man I fell in love with." She finished her speech by giving him a kiss on the lips and he smiled demurely at her honest words as she finished wrapping the bandages.

"Thanks, Tamamo-chan."

* * *

 **\- Student Council Club Room -**

Sona sighed as she finished the last of her paperwork, the evening rays shining through the window only to be interrupted by the rapping of wood and her faithful queen, Tsubaki, opened the door allowing for Issei to come in.

"Kaichou," He inclined his head in greeting as Tsubaki stood by Sona's side. "So I'm here to discuss the terms of my punishment?"

"Yes, Tsubaki please make us some tea." Tsubaki nodded, moving off as Issei inspected the room with a critical eye, from all the lavish but functional furniture, he had to say that the couch probably cost more than all the stuff in his apartment.

"This is a really nice place."

"Thank you." She replied curtly, her eyes never leaving Issei as he continued to walk around the room before making himself comfortable on the sofa-chair opposite of her.

"I feel like you're treating me more like a guest than a student who should be reprimanded for their actions."

"While I don't exactly condone your actions, I will commend your intention in protecting Koneko's honour and the other parties involved will be dealt with." Accepting the tea from Tsubaki, she continued on. "However what I want to discuss is your education or your surprising lack thereof that I found."

"What do you mean?" He remarked with a raised eyebrow as held his cup.

"I looked into your files and I found that you only completed two years of elementary school and anything else after that is missing, it's as if you vanished into thin air. Until your entrance into this school, a year ago." She took a sip from her cup, never breaking eye contact with Issei. Issei would have to congratulate her on the psychological warfare that she was using so he assumed that she wanted something from him.

"But isn't all my information there?"

"Falsified information, now tell me how and why did you get into school?" Her glasses glinted in the light.

"I'm really into education." He responded quickly.

"With the grades you're getting, that's highly unlikely." Sona was quick to shoot him down with a sharp reply.

"I heard that this used to be an all-female school so why not?" Issei aimed for the primary reason that 90% of the male students went here.

"Hmm, an acceptable reason for anyone else but I don't think you're much of a lustful person." Issei sweated at her quickly she tore down his reasoning.

"Would you believe me if I said that an old man asked me to come here?" Seeing the unamused look that she was giving him, he chuckled in response. "What do you want then?"

"The truth, Hyoudou-san." Issei took a long sip from his cup.

"This is some good tea. My compliments to the maker." Tsubaki nodded in thanks but still kept her stoic expression. Sona crinkled her brow momentarily, a sign of her frustration as Issei continued to dodge the issue.

"With all due respect, Kaichou, that's something I'm not quite ready to reveal yet. But I'm curious as to why the interest you have on me unless you're looking to recruit me into your peerage?" By Tsubaki's stiffening shoulders, Issei knew that he rattled them but he had to give it to Sona, she knew how to keep her composure. "Oh, you weren't expecting me to know about the Supernatural World?"

"I would be lying If I said I wasn't surprised. Your knowledge of us must be related to your missing years." The Sitri stated.

"Very perceptive of you, I suppose we are at an impasse. So how about a wager?" Sona raised an eyebrow before nodding for him to continue. "If you win, you get me into your peerage and I will tell you why I've been missing for six years."

Sona knew that this deal was good, too good to be true. He was offering everything that she wanted and she didn't have to do anything but her inner desire to possess a Longinus Sacred Gear overpowered her reasoning. "And if you win?"

"Just a few favours, Kaichou." He drained the rest of his cup before thanking Tsubaki.

"As long as they are reasonable, then I will accept your wager."

"Tell me, Kaichou, are you familiar with Shogi?" Sona couldn't suppress the smile at how easy she would win this.

* * *

 **\- The Bridge -**

Issei found himself back on the bridge, staring out into the sunset as he mulled over what the events of the day. "Hmm, had a cute girl sleepover at my apartment today. Kicked a couple of people's asses and Tamamo still worries and I challenged Sona Sitri, one of the smartest people around, to Shogi. Hmm, Tuesday's a bit finicky."

He waited a few moments before basking in the sunlight, hoping and waiting to hear something, to hear someone.

"Issei-kun?" He turned his good eye to see Yuuma standing with her school bag clutched between her fingers and the way that she nervously looked down amused him.

"Evening, Yuuma-chan." He turned to face her and she held a hand to her mouth seeing the state of his face.

"What happened to you, Issei?" She rushed forward to his side, leaning her hand against his blackened eye.

"Just got into a fight, that's all, nothing to worry about." He gently put her hand down as he went back to watching the sunset.

"Ano, I always wondered why are you always here on this bridge, Issei-kun?" She joined him in watching it as well marvelling as the rays hit the sky, a painting of red, orange and vermillion.

"This is one of the places that allow me to think about things, you know, about life, about the world, about everything really. What about you, Yuuma?"

"Ah, I just think that I want to do well in school and get a nice job. I never really thought about it."

"Oh come on, there's more to life than just getting a job. Thousands of people pass this bridge and they're all off going to school, going to work but they never take the time to appreciate life. We're all so set with a destination in mind that we ignore the world around us that we don't see how great it is to be alive." He paused in thought, his gaze never wavering from the setting sun.

Yuuma Amano, but to herself Raynare, bristled at such a notion that life was great and couldn't help the loathing that came from being a Fallen Angel still remembering a time when she was 'pure' that her existence was to serve only Him. The jealousy that grew that this boy, this human, was able to freely say such things infuriated her. A small part of her whether she admitted it or not agreed with him.

"Take the sunset, for instance, there is so much beauty to watching it. It holds a promise of endless possibilities as the sun sets over the horizon. You know it won't last but you savour every moment of it." The last of the sun's rays vanished to be changing the salmon and purple sky to an expanse of jet-black with glittering stars. "And then the night comes."

"There will always be another sunset tomorrow." Raynare couldn't help the words that left her.

"You're right but…" He got off the railing and secured his backpack before leaving. "There's no telling if there's no tomorrow for any of us so I appreciate every sunset that I watch. I'll see you for our date, Yuuma-chan."

The girl could do nothing but watch him leave and she turned the other way, sharing one last glance to the horizon. 'Endless possibilities, huh.'


	3. An Undeserved Fate

**Author's Note**

 **TheAnimeSage:** Hello again, my dear readers and I gotta say holy crap this story has over 3,500 views, 200 followers, 125 favourites and more than 40 reviews. It's been added to a community as well, Sepiroth's Ancient Fantasy. This is brilliant, more than brilliant and I love it. In writing this chapter, I figured that it was better if I released a chapter on a bi-weekly basis considering that it's taking quite some time to actually get to writing the chapter, revising the chapter, editing the chapter and getting it all together which is tiring for me but on the plus side, it gives the additional benefit of it being more coherent and engaging.

 **deathleader:** Issei gets around a lot and he has a lot of allies in unconventional places.

 **War historian:** Issei is a conundrum, that is all.

 **RizomataNyan, Animeloverq8, and Fenrir44: The harem for this story is a big list and I will have some difficulty juggling it so here is the list of possible harem members *takes in a deep breath*:**

 **The big harem list:  
** Ophis  
Aika Kiryuu  
Tamamo no Mae  
Raynare  
Murayama  
Asia Argento  
Rias Gremory  
Akeno Himejima  
Koneko Toujou  
Kuroka (?)  
Seekvaira Agares  
Sona Sitri (?)  
Serafall  
Gabriel  
Rossweisse  
Irina Shidou  
Xenovia Quarta  
Le Fay Pendragon  
Tiamat (?)  
(?)

 **hellfire45:** Thank you and Tamamo is not his girlfriend. She's a whole lot more than that.

 **RangerElk76, RedSS, Sasuke75249, Verno Rayan, Apocalypse1950, Guest, Gabriel790, SpecH82, Zarroc789, Imperial-samaB, BrotherCaptainShepherd, NinjaFang1331,** **TheLaughingStalk Lenny-Kun** **:** To all you lovely reviewers, I thank you for your praises and one particular reviewer, not to kill yourself. It really warms my heart to know that my story has actually entertained you guys and I feel like I'm living the dream because as a storyteller if I can make one person happy then I did it.

 **Raven Marcus:** I really wanted Aika in this story so badly cause the way I see it, she is a great counterpart to Issei and they get along so well.

 **Guest and I'm just a Guest:** I'm assuming, you both are the same person. Yes, it is the Tamamo you're thinking of but it's not the Tamamo you're thinking of.

 **HeavensDownfall:** I'm still an amateur writer so I'm trying to find my groove and not be so cliche. Give me constructive criticism, make me better at my craft, if I do something that you think should need improving, do not hold back.

 **T-B-R:** Aika - half-vampire/half-succubus, she's gonna be so badass and Tamamo is definitely here to stay.

 **To the guest that gave this awesome and insightful review:  
**

"So Rias would rather prefer that Issei dies so she can have him in her peerage without a choice? It is like the concept of talking to him about joining her Peerage never even entered her mind...

Funny enough the ones pushing for Rias to be wed to Riser are forcing her to have no choice in the matter which she dislikes very much so for her to attempt to do that to Issei make her a giant hypocrite."

I love it when people give me exciting things to work with and the people on this site are simply AMAZING! You're gonna see something special this chapter.

 **A special mention to my favourite authors and spectacular sensei:** Eiichiro Oda for his lovable SBS corners and glorious arcs and RebukeX7 for the sheer scale and awesomeness of his stories. Epic does not cover it.

 **Now onto the story.**

* * *

 **Beyond Infinite Dreams**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.**

* * *

" _Your usefulness has come to an end, Hyoudou." Rain poured down upon the two warriors, a black-haired man holding a spear by his side and a boy in draconic crimson armour, the helmet gone._

" _I won't let you get away with this, Cao Cao!" The bright red gauntlet shone as he clenched his fist, the green jeweled responding to his command boosting his strength as he leaned on a claymore. Blood trickled down his face as he stood shakily on his legs._

" _You are foolish, Hyoudou, into thinking that Ophis could be anything more than a tool. Our goal is to eradicate the fallen angels, devils, and dragons of this world. I will annihilate them with the power of the Infinite Dragon God.' He readied his spear, slowly walking forward to meet his opponent. "But I'm finished wasting my breath on the likes of you."_

" _I'm gonna save her and if I have to tear you apart then I will gladly do so!" He snarled in rage, he was practically vibrating in his armour, the itch to destroy, to completely and utterly annihilate him._

" _You still refer to it as her." He couldn't control it anymore. He wanted to shut him up so bad, only anger was coursing through him and he began to chant._

" _I, WHO AM ABOUT TO AWAKEN!' A corona of energy burst forth from him as the dragon within responded to the call, howling in fury._

" _You think that Juggernaut Drive will save you when I have three of the Longinus on my side." A young boy and a teen appeared by his side as the boy in armour completed his transformation into a fearsome dragon._

' _RAHHH!' Issei was too far gone as he roared, charging towards the people who dared take her away from him._

* * *

 **Chapter 3: An Underserved Fate**

* * *

 **Issei's Apartment**

"Ah, Issei you're looking quite handsome today." Reiko leant on the counter tending to Olivia who stared at her brother as he continued to adjust his clothing. He was dressed in a blood-red hoodie with black lining with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and army green pants with black sneakers.

"Wow, Onii-chan is so cool!" Olivia was dressed in a yellow sundress and Reiko was styling her chestnut brown hair into two loose ponytails.

"Yup, your big brother will always be cool for you." He patted her head and she blushed at the treatment, beaming happily at her elder brother before hugging him.

"Thanks again, Reiko-san." Issei hugged the woman and she patted him on the shoulder, dusting away any loose hairs.

"Issei-chan, you deserve to relax today on your date and I'll make sure Olivia does not get into mischief." She rubbed the top of Olivia's head affectionately and she

"Have fun on your date, Onii-chan!"

"Behave with Reiko-obaa-san, okay." He said sternly but the smirk on his face said otherwise before squeezing her into another hug.

He arrived at the scheduled spot, earlier than the usual time. He was walking by an older, dark-haired women in vampire outfit that hugged her curves nicely and showed a nice amount of cleavage. 'Aika would get a kick out of seeing this.'

"Here, take a flyer." He looked over the flyer and saw the summoning circle plastered on it.

'We grant your wish.' He assessed the summoning circle in his hand. 'Hmm, a low-level summoning circle based on desire, mass-produced if it's being handed out like a pamphlet and the residue energy suggests that its devilish in nature. There's also the fact that the Gremory crest is smack-dab in the centre.'

He looked up to see that the woman had gone off to hand out more flyers to passersby and he pocketed it before turning to see Yuuma waving towards him and she flushed in embarrassment, "Sorry, I kept you waiting, Issei kun."

Issei took the moment to look at her, wearing a short black dress with a small light purple jacket on top and he found it to be quite appealing. Many heads would turn at her simple yet stunning appearance.

"Don't worry, I just got here as well." He watched in amusement as she breathed a sigh of relief at his words. "You look beautiful today."

Yuuma's cheeks tinted with red at his sincere compliment, "If it's not too much trouble, Issei-kun, can we end our date at the park at sunset?"

"Huh, sunset but why?"

"I thought we could make it special by watching the sunset together." She seemed to blush at her own words before Issei smiled at her request.

"As you wish." He nodded before putting his arm out for her. "Shall we?"

"Lead the way."

* * *

'Why did he have to so perfect?' Raynare had to wonder to herself as Issei had been taken her throughout town, never staying long enough at one venue as they seemed to have made their way throughout the entire prefecture. She remembered one instance when they were trying on some clothes.

"Issei, does this dress look good on me?" She had changed from her normal outfit to a black dress that hugged her body, showing off the contours of her hips, waist, and bust. She spun around her and it got all the men in the store drooling with lust and the women enraged at seeing their boyfriends' blatant ogling. Issei idly looked up from his seat and gave her a once over.

"To be honest, you look better in nothing." Her face reddened heavily at the implication and the guys had their utmost respect for him that day.

"Damn." One of the women whispered in awe at that line.

She had been preparing herself to kill him, just finding anything to motivate her into getting more pleasure when she would shove her spear through his chest and watch the life drain from his eyes but her resolve weakened as she thought back to the conversation on the bridge and she found herself becoming attached to her assignment. No, to him. To Issei. To the boy, she was supposed to murder.

Her train of thought was broken as Issei suddenly stopped, his hair shadowing his face and she found herself scared that she had disappointed her date. Wait, where did that thought come from?

She followed his line of sight to see a scruffy-looking man on a bicycle and she could hear the boy next to her heave a shuddering breath as he gently placed her shopping bag to the ground.

"Issei-kun, what's wrong?" She said in concern as he began to crack his knuckles.

"Excuse me, Yuuma-chan, if you can just wait here for a moment, I just have to have a chat with someone who took a liking to my bike. I promise I'll be back." Issei took off in a sprint as he yelled obscenities at the scruffy-looking man who looked taken aback before panic set in as he tried to ride away.

Raynare stared in shock as her date ran off on her and she felt all the resolve to kill him return, feeling insulted that he left, amused that Issei was cursing loudly at someone in public and confused on why. She stood there waiting impatiently for a few minutes until she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine. Raynare looked down the road to see a man on a motorcycle headed towards her. The motorcycle swerved until it was positioned horizontally in front of her. She couldn't see his face due to it being covered by his helmet but when the visor slid up.

"Issei!"

"No time to explain, get on now!" She was dumbfounded for a moment until she heard the roar of several more motorcycles and quickly complied.

"Issei, what's going onnnnn!" She shrieked as he revved up and accelerated away before being followed by other bikes who shouted over the wind.

"Oi, bastard, give back aniki's bike!"

"Die!"

"Hold tight." She squeaked as she wrapped her arms tightly around him, the motorcycle swerved in and out of traffic. They were still giving chase to him and Issei noticed that Yuuma had squeezed him tighter, her breasts pressed tightly against his back. He put that out of his mind, however when he noticed that they were getting closer to him.

"Fuck, he's good, call the boys to come in on the other exit." One of them yelled.

Raynare would swear that she had never felt her blood pressure jump up and down in her life until she got on the bike with Issei. They were heading towards a section of the highway that was still in the process of being constructed with a ramp up ahead.

"Ha, look at that, he's at a dead end! We got him, boys!" The bikers were eagerly coming on Issei's tail with smug grins but looking ahead at a ramp, he saw his one chance to escape and accelerated faster. Raynare paled when she felt herself speeding up instead of slowing down.

"Slow down, Issei! We're going to go over the edge!"

"Yuuma, do you trust me?" He asked from behind and he felt her nod against his back. "Take my helmet off and put it on yourself!"

"But Issei!?"

"Hurry!" Following his instructions, the helmet went over her head and she wrapped her arms tighter around him, trusting him completely in that moment.

"No way! He's gonna jump!" The bikers shouted incredulously, their wheels screeching as they braked.

"Kid's going to die!"

Issei revved the bike harder and they soared off the highway. As the wheels left the ramp, they were in the air and he could swear that he felt a rib pop painfully as Yuuma hugged him as hard as she could as the feeling of weightlessness fell upon them.

ERK! ERK!

Until the tires met the road again. He exited off the road quickly as the bikers jaws dropped at the suicidal stunt that Issei pulled.

Raynare's heart beat rapidly against her ribcage until she was snapped out of her shock by Issei who had stopped at the park. He had a wide grin on his face as he broke into raucous laughter. Yuuma didn't know whether to laugh at the absurdity of the situation or euphoria she felt from escaping unscathed and found herself holding back tears of mirth with Issei.

He propped the bike against a tree and took her by the hand to the fountain, resting down on the stone as she sat down next to him.

"What a way to end a date." He chuckled, wincing in pain as held his sides.

"That's understating it." She giggled. Raynare found herself conflicted on the inside however she didn't want this date to end but she had an assignment and no matter how much she wanted for him to live, she couldn't risk failing, else she would suffer a fate worse than death at Kokabiel's hands.

"I-Issei, I-I…" He held up a finger to stall her as he reached into his pocket and brought a silver pendant with an intricate circle and a small crest weaved into it and Yuuma couldn't help the stab of guilt as she quietly accepted the gift putting it around her necklace.

"Can you see it, Yuuma-chan?" He pointed towards the orb that was waning over the horizon and she was taken aback at the kaleidoscope of colours that filled the sky. The perfect end to a date.

'You know it won't last, but you savour every moment of it.' She bit her lip as she continued to watch with Issei who had a serene smile on his face.

"Beautiful."

"Yeah, you were right about the sunset."

"I wasn't talking about the sun." She felt herself flush and the pounding in her chest got faster.

"C-can you please close your eyes?" She cursed herself for stammering and she had to use all her willpower to go through with it but a tiny voice inside her wished otherwise. 'You don't have to do this, you can lie.'

"As you wish." He closed his eyes and an easygoing smile was on his face.

'No, I have to do this but the least I can do is give him a kiss.' She leaned forward to capture his lips and she felt his arms enclose around him. And she lost herself in the kiss. She poured everything into the kiss, the desires that Raynare dared not hope to have but for one moment, she could be honest with herself, she could be Yuuma Amano. Tears slid down her cheeks and she tore herself away from him whispering, "I'm sorry."

She changed into her true form, her clothes shredding to be replaced by a black, leather thong with gloves running up her arms ending in a shoulder guard with three large spikes and matching thigh-high heel boots. She matured from a young teen to a mature woman as black wings sprouted where she flew up and away from him.

"Yuuma-chan, what's going on?" A look of confusion was on his face and his eyebrows raised at her changed outfit.

"My name's not Yuuma, it's Raynare. If there is anyone to blame, blame God for giving you a Sacred Gear." She materialised a pink spear in her hand before thrusting it forward straight towards his heart.

She turned away not daring herself to look at his face. When she didn't hear the thud of a body, she looked back to see that the spear was an inch away from his chest, stopped by his hands, a film of white energy covering his body.

"Ah, it's really impolite for you to kill someone on their first date." Her eyes widened as she watched him shatter her spear into light particles. "But I guess that's expected from a Fallen Angel."

"What? How did you survive!?" Her feelings forgotten for the moment at the fact that Issei just held her light spear with his bare hands

"Pushups, situps and plenty of juice." He said with a straight face, his demeanour changing to one of calm confidence.

"I'm sorry, Issei-kun, but you're too much of a threat to our organisation to let live." She materialised more light spears and threw them forward. Issei side-stepped away from the attack, weaving through each light spear as he made his way forward to her.

"If you're going to kill me, can you at least put some effort into it." He drawled bored as he stepped forward, she growled and a dozen spears, much bigger than before, formed in the air.

"Is this enough effort for you!?" The light spears flew faster than before and Issei simply stood his ground as a huge explosion kicked up dust where Issei stood. She almost collapsed from the effort, her wings barely supporting her.

'What's happening to me? I could fight longer than this.' She landed back on the ground to survey if Issei had died in that explosion.

"That all you got, Yuuma-chan~?." The smoke cleared away to reveal Issei unharmed from the attack as he continued forward. "I know, I'm that awesome that I can leave you breathless without doing anything."

Her eyes widened as her movements began to grow more sluggish and the spear that she had formed took twice as much effort to create. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing, you, on the other hand, started tossing spears around as if it was candy, you really should have been watching how much energy you were using." With her last effort, she weakly threw her last spear at him and watched it shatter without him doing anything.

"Well, I think it's my turn now." He vanished from her sight and appeared right in front of her. Panic set in as a half-formed light dagger materialised but he was already gone and she turned her head to see his right fist reared back.

 **Death/** **死** **!**

It exploded forward barrelling towards her, filling the entirety of her vision as it closed in. There was nothing Raynare could do, it was too late for her to dodge, blocking would have the same effect as she did standing there helpless. She couldn't do anything, she was going to die…

Until the fist stopped halfway and her eyes were still wide in shock before Issei flicked her on the forehead, knocking her out.

"That was easy." Holding out a hand, a summoning circle flared on the ground in front of him and in a blue flash, Tamamo appeared wearing a dark blue kimono with flame patterns that showed off her cleavage, her hair was tied up in a long ponytail that reached down to her waist and she was barefoot. What was different from her normal appearance were the fluffy fox ears atop her head and the bushy tail that was swaying back and forth. "Tamamo-chan, I need your help."

"Of course. And who is she?" Tamamo narrowed her eyes at the unconscious Fallen Angel but Issei rubbed his head sheepishly.

"She is uh... my date." She looked back and forth between Issei and the unconscious woman. "You know, you don't need someone unconscious to do that."

"That's not what...look she tried to kill me and I need information on the rogue Fallen in town.."

"And you want me to take her back to your apartment." Tamamo crossed her arms under her bust and stared at Issei.

"Yup and please grab all of the money from under the bed, please." He pecked her forehead and the top of her mouth curved into a sweet smile, scooping Raynare over her shoulder and she was gone, a magical circle teleporting her back.

Shaking his head, he took out the flyer from his pocket and made a wish. The circle glowed and electricity arced from it before two beautiful girls appeared. Crimson red hair that reached down her thighs, a colour that he loved when he saw it, surprised blue-green eyes that stared into his brown ones, smooth alabaster white skin, a buxom figure and a sizeable bust as the school uniform did very well to emphasise that. He wasn't surprised to see Rias Gremory here but when his eyes roamed to the other, he was pleasantly surprised to see Akeno. The hair was the first thing he noticed about her was her hair, tied with an orange ribbon, it was long enough to reach her legs and he took note of her violet eyes that was shining with mischief. She had a voluptuous figure and an even bigger bust than Rias, many would call her a Yamato Nadeshiko and he could see why.

"When I wished for a beautiful girl to show up, I didn't realise that I would get a two for one deal." He complimented and the girls blinked in surprise at seeing Issei summoning them. "I'm assuming that the both of you are devils."

"And how did you know that?"

"Besides the obvious, I can sense the unholy energy from you two, and there is no way on Earth that two beauties like you could exist."

"Ara ara, what a charmer you are, Issei-kun." Akeno greeted with a warm smile, nodding politely to him.

"Why have you summoned us?" Rias inquired with a raised brow.

"Would you be willing to answer something for me?" He asked in a pleasant tone, taking a seat on the fountain, making sure to brush away the debris, now that the ladies were taking notice of their surroundings, they could see the signs of battle had happened.

"What happened here?"

"Just had to take care of a fallen angel."

"So you know about the Supernatural World?" A cryptic smile was all that she received before his voice lowered to a chilling tone and his eyes pinned Rias to the spot with his piercing gaze . "Were you expecting for me to die?"

She was unnerved by how his eyes seemed to look past her, stare deep into her soul and was judging and had found her wanting. She had to keep her voice from faltering when she answered him, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you had a Sacred Gear that I needed." She tried her hardest not to squirm on the spot.

"Always with the Sacred Gears today," He muttered before he dropped his gaze from her and she breathed a sigh of relief. "That's the wrong answer, by the way."

"What do you mean?" She blinked when he casually dismissed her answer.

"I'm sure we can discuss this tomorrow, it is getting late after all and since I summoned the two of you here, I guess you'll be wanting payment and before you ask, my soul and me joining your peerage are off the table."

She composed herself quickly and the President of the Occult Research Club was back in place and she kicked herself mentally when she had let her guard down like that before."Hmm very well, if I can't have you as payment then can I have you join the Occult Research Club?"

"Um...sure. That seems pretty straightforward." He blinked, accepting the request.

"Ara ara, buchou, what about my payment? I was summoned as well." Akeno frowned and Issei found her expression to quite amusing, chuckling to himself.

"I'll offer any payment but the same condition still stands, Akeno-san."

"Ara, I don't want anything right now, Issei-kun, just a favour in the future."

"As you wish, in any case, I'll see you two tomorrow, bye!"

He turned around walking off as she stood there miffed at his sudden departure and a burning question was on the forefront of her mind. "Wait, before you go, who are you, Issei?"

He turned his head slightly and gave her a lopsided grin, "Only the most interesting man in your life."

Frowning, she was about to say something but stopped herself, as she knew asking him now was pointless and that he would talk to her tomorrow. A red runic circle appeared underneath her and Akeno taking them away.

* * *

 **Outside Club KONO**

Aika wasn't exactly thrilled to be waiting on the sidewalk by one of the biggest clubs in Kuoh Town on a Sunday night. The neons lights of the district shined, brightly illuminating the night, with various partygoers milling about waiting outside clubs and restaurants in fancy dresses. She was in a dark grey coat with fur lining the hood, a modest white t-shirt and a plaid skirt with knee-high socks tapping her foot impatiently, readjusting her purse strap. She was at home, watching the latest episode of _Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha_ when Issei had texted her to come to Club KONO and bring all her money that she had with her, she wouldn't deny that she wasn't slightly suspicious when he asked her to bring money. She turned her head to see Issei walking towards her with a bag over his shoulder and Tamamo in casual clothes by his side.

"Evening, Aika-chan, and thanks for coming." He waved with a lazy smirk on his face.

"Ah, Issei what are you doing with Tamamo-san?" She quirked an eyebrow at seeing the school nurse.

"You haven't told her yet, Issei-kun." The aforementioned woman admonished him by puffing her cheeks angrily which had the opposite effect as he found it quite cute.

"That's why she's here. Tamamo-chan is here to help ease the process in explaining some things about myself."

"Oooh, ominous. Well, this had better be a very good explanation for getting me out here, my legs are freezing." She pointed to the knee-high socks she had on.

"Come on, let's go."

Walking up to the bouncer at the front club, a giant of a man in an expensive suit and a pair of shades, he nodded to the man who let him in much to the protest of the other partygoers who were silenced by the imposing glare that was sent by the big bouncer. The moment they entered, their senses were assaulted by the blaring music and the flashing laser lights as men and women danced to the beat of the music, gyrating and grinding their bodies against each other in a mix of sweat, desire, and alcohol.

"I can taste the lust wafting from this club." Aika idly commented, seeing a couple making out heavily in the corner.

"You're going to be tasting bloodlust soon." Issei was leading them through the packed crowd and towards the back area when a drunken man was strolling up to Aika, ready to grab her ass when he was stopped by an iron grip on his wrist.

"Don't touch me." Aika kept a cool stare towards him and her eyes flashed to red for a moment frightening the man and he staggered back away from her.

"Oh, I like her," Tamamo said in approval. Seeing another bodyguard next to a door, Issei bumped fists with the man who letting them in, as they climbed the stairs, the noise of the club receding only to be replaced by the thunderous roar of a crowd, shouting and cheering at two men in who were pummelling each other with everything they had. One of the combatants was a tall imposing man, heavily muscled and had numerous tattoos covering his body while the other smaller but muscled man had a scar running down his face. He was losing ground as the powerful strikes were going past his blocks until he was put down by a hook to his head.

"Yamada! Yamada! Yamada!" The audience chanted, savouring in the violence and brutality of the fight.

"See that big guy over there? He is one of the best fighters in the underground fighting ring and I am going to fight him." He pointed to the tattooed man lifting his arms up in victory as they dragged the bloodied scarred man away.

"And you're what, one of the best?" Aika appraised Issei who shrugged off his hoodie to reveal a black muscle shirt underneath it.

"Nope, one of the worst." He walked up to the bartender, a nice looking man with a beard and a cigarette on his lips. "How's it going, Tetsuo?"

"Ah Issei, going to fight again eh? I'll bet the usual then." The bartender greeted, taking a 10,000 yen note from his pocket. "It's great that you have faith in me, old man."

"Something tells me it's going to be my lucky day, brat." Issei took the offered note from him and the bartender continued to serve another customer, some drunkard with a fist full of money.

"The fight against Yamada will have big odds and you are going to be betting a lot of money on me." He nodded to Tamamo who smiled serenely at him before he moved towards the circle.

"No offence, I know Issei's a decent fighter but I don't think the big guy is going to be pulling punches."

"Neither will Issei." Her smile was brimming with confidence. "How much did you manage to bring with you?"

"All of it but..."

"Do you trust Issei?" She was put off by the question but remembering all the events that transpired the last week, she would place her trust in Issei, if it allowed her to learn more about him.

"Yes." Tamamo began to lead Aika to a man who was dressed extravagantly with bright colours, hollering for all the watchers to bet on the fighters.

"Alright ladies, how much and who are you betting on?" The betting man asked.

"I'd like to bet 445,000 yen on Issei Hyoudou to knockout Yamada with one punch."

"That's some big odds lady, 20:1 if he's going against Yamada. Are you sure you want to make this bet?"

"Positive." She handed him a huge wad of cash which he accepted from her.

Issei was taping his hands together, his shirt was gone and he was stripped down to his pants, where a litany of scars marred his back and a particular scar stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip.

"Haha, if it isn't little Issei, tell me did you bring your girlfriend with you?" Issei remained silent, his face a blank mask not showing any emotion as he turned to Yamada. "Maybe after I'm done kicking your ass, I can show her a good time."

The announcer came up towards them, hyping the crowd with his presence as he yelled boisterously. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen tonight is the final fight for the night where we have the underdog of the ring, HYOUDOU ISSEI!"

The crowd cheered when Issei stepped forward in the middle. "And here on my side of the circle is the monster of the box, the Bear of Tanaka Pass and the undefeated champion, AKIMOTO YAMADA!"

"There is something you should know about Issei before he attended Kuoh Academy, he was trained to fight his entire life." Tamamo's eyes were still on Issei as she said so.

"But what about his fight with Kaido and his friends?" Aika remembered that fight, sure Issei got a few shots in but the end result was that his face ended up a bloody mess.

"He was trying to adapt as a normal human being. He had to play the part."

"So he's not a normal human being?"

"Well, he is a human being, but not normal. Just as you aren't normal either." Aika turned to Tamamo in surprise but she held a finger to her lips. "Look, it's starting now."

Yamada had a smug smirk on him and he lifted his arms in the air showing off his muscles and hyping of the room where the crowd was going crazy. The announcer brought his hand down to begin the match.

"Come on, give me good show before I break you." Issei kept his calm gaze and stepped back, in a boxing stance and closed his eyes. The roar of the crowd died away and he was only focused on his opponent. His obstacle. His prey.

The face of Kaido was in his mind and he could hear him whispering, "You're nothing, Hyoudou, you're not worth the dirt that I tread on. You'll be nothing."

Yamada stepped forward, his arm was the size of a bear moving forward with the intent to pound Issei into a bloody pulp but to his eyes, it was like he was wading through mud.

Kaido's face was gone and in its place was Kokabiel's, sneering at him. "You are human and you are the weakest race."

The giant hand balled into a fist was an inch away from smashing into Issei.

One more face appeared a face that Issei hated with all his being. "You will never save her."

Issei's hand shot up, his fingers clenched around the man's fist. His eyes shot open staring fiercely into Yamada's. The man struggled, trying to pull his arm back but he clenched tighter and he dropped to his knees. Pulling his arm back, his fist shot upwards, the knuckles dug into Yamada's chin into a jaw-shattering uppercut that sent off his feet and on his back unconscious, a few of his teeth missing, groaning at the pain.

The noise in the room died instantly as Issei stood over Yamada, before turning to the crowd shrugging as if to say 'sorry to disappoint' before the place went ballistic.

* * *

 **Issei's Apartment**

Issei lounged on one of the sofas in the apartment resting his head against the cushion, his spoils leaning against the side of the couch as Tamamo was in the kitchen preparing tea, Aika sat on the sofa opposite of him.

"I'll get to the point Aika but you have a basic grasp of the Supernatural World given your unique heritage, right?" She nodded at his assessment.

"I used to part of an organisation called The Khaos Brigade where our goal was to remove the dragon, Great Red, from the Dimensional Gap for our leader, Ophis. I was part of the Hero faction that was made up of several Sacred Gear users, descendants of past heroes and holy/demon sword wielders. So for five years, I learnt how to fight, how to kill, how to use my Sacred Gear, training so that I could one day defeat Great Red." She took the offered tea from Tamamo, who left for Issei's bedroom and Issei took off his shirt showing the scar. "But, I was betrayed by the people I once called my brothers and sisters and in my anger, I tried to fight them but it destroyed me and I was left to die, alone in the middle of nowhere."

"How did you survive?"

"I was saved by an old man, who taught me to control myself, to hone the raw power that I had. And I dedicated the next few years to travelling the world and training myself and I met people like Tamamo-chan." Aika took a moment to digest all this information, closing her eyes as Issei continued.

"Can you show me your Sacred Gear?" Issei's eyes dulled as he clenched his hands, he shook his head negatively.

"I wish I could and I've been trying but I can't." Aika wanted to say something to comfort him, the sadness in his eyes wasn't something she wanted to see, but he continued. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this but I have a dangerous past and sooner or later it's going to catch up to me. I'm going to give you this chance to walk away from this, the fight earlier showed not even a glimpse of what I could do and I don't want you in any danger." There was an uneasy silence but Aika stared resolutely into Issei's eyes not backing down.

"Issei, you really must not know me if this is going to stop me from being your best friend. I don't care about your past but no matter what happens, you're still Issei and I will always stay by your side." Issei blinked in surprise before a smile appeared on his face which turned into a full-blown laughter.

"You really are amazing, Aika." Issei held out a hand before a runic circle spun into life above him revealing a blank wedged shape tile that fell into his hand. "If you're going to stay by my side, then you're going to need this."

"This is a blank shogi piece." She looked over the tile, there was nothing special about it as she turned it over in her hand. Tamamo walked in, standing beside Issei. "Yup, keep it on you and when the time is right, the piece will show you its power. But allow me to introduce you to Tamamo better known as Tamamo-no-Mae, the legendary fox spirit." And in a blue flash, her clothes was replaced with her kimono and her kitsune traits were out for the world to see.

"S-she, she's…" Aika's eyes widened at seeing a mythical figure standing in front of her, who inclined her head towards.

"Beautiful, terrifying, awe-inspiring." Issei listed off before Aika lunged towards Tamamo catching her by surprise, as she began to stroke her foxy ears.

"KYAH!"

"So cute! Your tail is so fluffy!" Tamamo blushed at the ministrations that Aika was giving her, particularly when she touched the base of her tail and she started to pant in pleasure. Issei sat rooted on the couch as he watched Aika pet Tamamo, their boobs squishing against each other as Tamamo moaned under the magic of Aika's fingers.

"Why don't you come join us, Issei-kun~?" Issei shuddered, feeling a wave of lust wash over him before clamping it down.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna take a cold shower now."

"Do you want us to join you, Issei-chan?" Tamamo breathed rather heavily and the way she was positioned so tantalisingly, he had to turn away from them lest they see his mighty 'dragon'.

"Yes. I mean, no! No, stop messing with me and quit groping Tamamo-chan." He pointed rather indignantly at her.

"I don't know, your finger says no but mini-you says yes." She trailed, her eyes never wavering from the bottom half of his torso and she licked her lips rather seductively.

"Leaving now."

* * *

Raynare groaned, her eyes blinking awake as she tried to adjust herself. She looked around to see herself in an unfamiliar bed with cream walls, a desk was off to the side with paper strewn all over and the sun was shining through the window. Her attention turned towards the small child who was peering at her with her head tilted. She was taken aback at how such a little girl could sneak up on her. Her. Someone trained to be an assassin.

"Hi, my name is Olivia. What's your name?" She peered at her, wide-eyed and innocent as any child could be but she radiated purity and kindness that she hadn't seen since...He died.

"Raynare." She didn't mean to say her true name, she wanted to say something else, to say Yuuma but something compelled her to speak honestly.

"That's a weird name but I like it. You're really pretty, Raynare-nee-san. Onii-chan has a lot of pretty friends." Olivia spoke, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet at the prospect of befriending her with her smile brightening up the room and she yelled. "Onii-chan, your pretty friend is awake."

Footsteps echoed on the wooden floorboards as the boy that she remembered from last night stood in the doorway albeit he had his school uniform on."Alright, imouto, go get your pancakes, Tamamo-san is making them today."

"Yay, pancakes!" She raced out of the room leaving Issei and Raynare alone. She shifted uncomfortably, drawing the blanket around her with Issei continuing to observe her. She was the first to break the silence. "Why am I alive?"

"Because I need information." Issei didn't dance around the issue and got straight to the point, moving from the doorway, he brought a chair over and sat down next to her.

"And what's to stop me from killing you and returning back to base?" She met his gaze and he quirked an eyebrow at her. Issei debated whether or not to humour her but decided against it, going straight for the truth.

"Well, for one you couldn't really kill me now and you tried your hardest to kill me back at the park, two even if I did let you leave, your allies aren't going to be pleased that you got captured by the enemy and there is the possibility that you could have told me their plans in which case they won't allow any loose ends. So feel free to leave at any point you like." Raynare sat there, her hands in her lap as the realisation that she couldn't return or else she face death was sobering.

"Where am I?"

"In my apartment."

"So what happens to me now? Am I going to be your prisoner forever until you decide to kill me?" She turned to him, directing her anger and resentment towards him.

"No, but as I said before I need information on the goal and purpose of why you and your group here."

"What makes you think I'm going to tell you? I will never betray them." Raynare's glowering eyes met Issei's impassive gaze before he breathed deeply.

"You said before in the park, that you said if I should blame anyone, I should blame God for giving me a Sacred Gear. So your objective seems to be eliminating Sacred Gear users before they become a threat to you and your organisation, am I right?" By the way that Raynare's form stiffened, he was right and she inwardly cursed herself for carelessly revealing information at the park. "Well, you don't have to worry about me having a Sacred Gear."

"W-what? But I confirmed it, I could sense that you had a Sacred Gear inside you."

"Yeah, I can't really call on it anymore." He chuckled sardonically. "In any case, feel free to join us for breakfast and maybe change into your other form."

"Wait, what do I do here, you can't expect me to stay here and do nothing?" Issei turned his head in thought before he shrugged noncommittally, "I'm sure Reiko-san can think of something. Besides, if you're going to stay here I might as well teach you a couple of tricks, your throwing speed was slow and I barely felt your spears touch me."

"Hmm, and what could you teach me?" She said, not at all arrogant and haughty.

"Besides actually hitting a target," She growled at the reminder. "Raynare, I'm going to teach you how to live."

"Eh?" She blinked in confusion, wondering what that meant before leaving, he stopped by the doorway.

"For what it's worth, I really did enjoy our date and I hope I can go on another one with you." Raynare's cheeks flared in embarrassment, her mind drifting back to the date.

* * *

 **Kuoh Academy**

He sighed wearily into his arms as Matsuda and Motohama chatted away in front of him discussing what they did over the weekend and their daily ritual on worshipping the female form much to the disgust and shame of the females around them except for Aika who just whispered under her breath, "Amateurs."

He became aware that someone was watching him and he turned his head to see Murayama staring at him before blushing and realising that she got caught, turned away in embarrassment. He figured that now was a good time as any to talk to her since their last conversation ended with her in the nurse's office. He got up from his desk and strolled over to her and her circle of friends.

"Murayama-san, is it alright if I talk to you privately?" She nodded and they walked outside of the class with many of the classmates speaking animatedly about the Deadbeat and the Captain of the Kendo Club leaving together.

"So what did you want to talk about?" They were in an empty class and Murayama was trying not to meet his gaze, finding everything else much more interesting.

He rubbed the back of his head, not knowing how to start the conversation but figuring that apologising was a good way to go. "I'm sorry about injuring you in our match, I didn't mean for it to get out of hand like that."

"No, don't worry about that. It happens all the time with these kinds of activities. But I gotta say that you were amazing in our match, one of the best opponents I ever had. You showed impressive skills and I would like to face you again." She said with appraisal and respect to him.

"Nah, I just picked up a few things from my sensei." He said sheepishly.

"Ano, if you don't mind me asking, who is your sensei?" She inquired rather curious on who Issei's sensei would be. Issei had a fond expression on his face, remembering the man who trained him.

"He's a rather secretive man but I'll introduce you to him when he comes in town." He had a soft smile on his face and Murayama nodded to accept the face, excited at the prospect of meeting someone who trained Issei to beat her. Murayama trained all her life to become proficient in the art of Kendo so it was an astonishing feat when he beat her.

"Hyoudou-san if you are willing, as the Captain of the Kendo Club I would like to extend an invitation for you to join us." She offered. Issei stopped and stared at her, his mind racing at being in a club full of hot girls but he did promise to join Rias' club and he had to slap himself for being as cocky as he was to summon the girls like that.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to decline, I already joined a club." He was truly apologetic given the missed opportunity to spar with someone who had as much drive to the art of the sword as his master.

"Oh." She said deflating, quite disappointed that he was already taken.

"But, I won't say no to a sparring session this afternoon, Murayama-san." She perked up at that bit of information and quickly left thanking him. He was about to leave the classroom when a small white-haired girl stood by the doorway.

"Issei-senpai." Koneko greeted with the same monotonous tone that she had. Issei could tell that she was happy to see him even if she didn't know it herself by the way that her eyes lit up when she caught sight of him and a small almost imperceptible twitch of her lips.

"Koneko-san, how are you this morning?" He addressed the girl with a two-fingered salute.

"I am well, senpai." She acknowledged with a nod.

"Is Kaido giving you any trouble?" He asked with worry evident in his voice.

"No, senpai." She shook her head and Koneko felt touched about Issei defending her even though he didn't have to.

"That's good."

"Buchou told me to inform you to meet her at the old school building, this afternoon."

"Message received. Thanks, Koneko." She left giving a nod on the way out.

* * *

After classes had ended, he headed straight to the old school building with Aika in tow finding it quite strange that something as obscure as the occult research club got a building to themselves but he chalked it up for the influence that Rias had over the school and her connection with Sona.

"Aika, this is going to be a great big world you're taking a step in."

"I'm ready to meet this great big world but I'm not sure if they're ready to meet me, though."

"That's the spirit." He knocked on the door and heard a voice call out for him to come in, opening the door he stepped inside to a view that contrasted greatly with the exterior of the building. The interior had a Victorian-style to it, wooden panels covered the walls, with couches and chairs added tastefully to give it a high-class aesthetic and off to the side was what he believed to be a setup for a bath and emblazoned on the floor was a magical circle.

'Hmm, a multi-purpose teleport circle, a bit more intricate in design, mid-level by the looks of it and takes a decent amount to activate and travel to its intended destination, not bad." Issei eyed the circle analytically.

"Welcome to the Occult Research Club, I am the vice-president Akeno Himejima. Buchou will be with you shortly." Akeno bowed with a smile and Issei nodded, continuing his scan of the room. Koneko was sitting on one of the couches, nibbling away at a sweet before nodding towards him in silent greeting. A handsome blonde teen walked over and Issei instantly knew who he was judging by his demeanour and the gentlemanly way that he carried himself.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Hyoudou-san, I am Kiba Yuuto." He said politely, offering his hand to shake.

"Oh please don't call me Hyoudou-san, we're all friends here I'm just Issei." He took the offered handshake and gripped it tightly when he felt Kiba matching him in strength. Kiba turned to the Aika, taking her hand in greeting as well.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kiryuu-san."

"It's nice to meet you too, Yuuto-san." She said with a saucy grin that Kiba's cheeks pinkened before he calmed himself.

"Oh don't start." Issei had to resist the urge to groan when Aika was working her magic again, he could sense her using her succubus powers as he had gotten curious on how it worked, needless to say, Matsuda and Motohama acted more like horn dogs to girls that day causing much chaos that day which Aika took delight in.

"I was saying hello." Aika pouted, Koneko whipped her head towards Aika when she sensed her powers being used but didn't say anything as Akeno came in with more sweets and tea.

"Sorry, I took so long, I was just freshening up," Rias said, coming in from the bathroom.

"Please, come sit, you are our guests after all." They both sat down on the comfy sofa and accepted the offered tea from Akeno.

"I'm sorry but why is Kiryuu-san here?"

"Show her." Aika stood up to reveal her wings and fangs and her hazel eyes were replaced with red as she showed off her true form and her horns grew out of her head, curving upwards with her breasts growing larger to match Akeno's bust size.

"Aika's part of the Supernatural World as well and it is fitting that she be a part of the Occult Research Club, plus you would be doing me a favour if you accept her.." Rias closed her eyes, considering his words for a few moments.

"Very well, thank you for telling me about this and Kiryuu-san, we are honoured to have you in our attendance." Aika changed back to her human form.

"The club's merely a facade for your activities as Devils so why did you have me join your club when I summoned you?"

"I had you join us because you are an anomaly. You are a total wildcard and it is my duty to ensure the safety of my peerage, the people of this town, supernatural or otherwise." She stated much to the surprise of Aika. "By having you join my club, I can keep an eye on you and see if you're a potential threat to us."

"Very clever of you."

"Thank you."

"I'm just wondering if you're ready to answer my question again?" He took a sip from the cup and realisation dawned on her as her mind went back to the meeting yesterday.

"And what would that question be, Issei?" She said quite calmly, refusing to show any weakness.

"Why do you need me in your peerage so badly?" He asked with an eye open, his tone changed from its usual apathy to an uncommon seriousness that had an underlying edge.

"I told you, it's because I needed your Sacred Gear." She answered, still sticking with the response she gave him.

Issei looked at her for a moment, calculatingly like the way Sona would do sometimes when she faced off against Rias in a game of chess and that scared her. "Strange way of phrasing it."

"What do you mean?"

"Considering that you are a devil, and it is in your inherent nature to desire something, it's odd that you said that you 'needed' instead of 'wanted' my Sacred Gear?" He began, cheeks on his knuckles and his foot crossed over his knee, like a king on his throne.

"So those words are interchangeable, I don't see what the difference is."

"Oh, there is a big difference between a want and a need. A want is something that you desire to possess, a need, Rias, a need is something that you require because it is important more than it is desirable. Because when you say you 'needed' my Sacred Gear, it spoke of desperation, so in translation you needed my strength, you needed power." He paused momentarily to let everyone digest what he had said. "Even if you did resurrect me, I can't access my Sacred Gear."

"What do you mean?"

"An incident in the past that almost cost me my life but I digress. Why do you need strength so badly?"

She tensed as he continued to deconstruct her words.

"Your last name is Gremory. One of the 72 names from the Ars Goetia, if I'm not mistaken. A Pure-Blood name in the Underworld. You are contracted to marry Riser Phenex, are you not?"

Surprise would be an understatement to describe what Rias was feeling right now as she was blown away by how this person, this enigma, could dissect her reasoning all from her wording alone.

"How do you know?" She inquired.

"I didn't but thank you for confirming that for me. Out of all the prominent families, I had to narrow it down to a list of eight with potential male heirs. So, you are forced to marry a man that you don't love and stuck in a contract that you can't escape from. The ones who are forcing you to wed this man are not giving you a choice because you are from a noble and prestigious clan in the Underworld, something that you hate with a passion, so they are most likely your parents. You can't refuse them either because it is your duty as an heiress to restore your society to its former glory and so you try to break the contract instead. Given that you were desperate after probably years of failed attempts to escape this contract, the thought of asking me didn't occur to you so you waited for me to die and reincarnate me into one of your servants having you join your peerage. But do you see what the big problem I find in all of this?" He finished his explanation by sipping once again on his tea.

"W-what?" She said shakily.

"That you're one big hypocrite." Instantly, Issei could feel all the members of the club flaring their malice towards him, the one who would dare insult their master but Rias held up a hand as she looked down shame-faced.

"He's right. If I had reincarnated him using one of my pieces then I wouldn't be any better than my parents giving him no choice in the matter. Isn't that right, Issei-san?"

"You are correct, for all intents and purposes, maybe I didn't want to be a devil, maybe I didn't want you to save me or maybe I wanted to die. However, you reviving me would have placed me under your servitude." He drawled but Aika's eye widened at his words.

"But the Gremory are the kindest people, they accept their peerage members as family," Akeno interjected trying to defend her best friend. Kiba nodded vehemently as well remembering when she saved him from the brink of death when he had nothing to live for.

"But the Gremory are the exception and not the norm, and I'm not keen on being stripped of my free will." She winced as he shot down her excuse.

"So Buchou, why do you need me?" He spoke calmly, his brown eyes softening at her distress and he could see the emotions in her blues eyes, shame, helplessness, desperation but one that stood out was hope. She was silently pleading with him and it agonised him to be the source of her anguish. Her lips parted and a whisper, a tiny murmur in the room but with so much more meaning in those words. It was all Issei needed to hear from her.

"Because I need your help."

"Okay," Issei said immediately.

"I understand if you don't want- wait what did you say?" Rias snapped her head to him, not believing what she was hearing, staring at him slack jawed.

"I said okay. I'm going to help you." He said simply.

"W-why?" She stuttered.

"Because you asked me." He stated simply as if he wasn't aware of the emotional turmoil that she went through. "And no one deserves a fate like that, especially a beautiful girl like you."

"Thank you." She bowed her head to him, humbled. "But, how did you know about the contract?"

"You'd be surprised at what I can get up to in my spare time." He turned to all the other peerage members and bowed his head in apology. "I'm sorry for upsetting you all and it wasn't my intention but I needed your master to see that what she was trying to do was wrong."

"No, you were right and I'm glad that I have your help and I'm sorry for not asking earlier." She said sheepishly.

"You're forgiven but as a show of good faith and to prove that I'm here to help, I managed to ascertain some information from the Fallen Angel that tried to kill me. She said that she was killing me because I had a Sacred Gear inside that could prove to be a threat to her organisation."

"I didn't realise the Grigori were killing Sacred Gear users."

"They're not, she was acting on her own and I don't believe that Azazel would do something like that. He's into researching them rather than eliminating users who have them."

"This doesn't bode well if members of his own faction are going rogue. We will wait to see if there's any more information before we can act, we can't risk sparking another war given the tentative peace that we are in."

"That's wise of you, and I'll be on the lookout if there's any movement."

"Thank you for meeting me here, it was an...enlightening discussion. I'll see you tomorrow." Both Issei and Aika left the room, bidding the rest of the club farewell.

"Ara ara, Issei-kun is turning out to be an interesting character." Akeno

"Yes, he certainly is."

* * *

CLACK! TWACK! CLACK!

Wood snapped against wood as two warriors faced each other, locked in combat. They danced around each other, pivoting on their feet as the blades locked once more in a series of precise movements that spoke years of training. The first warrior, only wearing a pair of track pants and a white t-shirt, lunged forward, the blade sailing overhead to strike his opponent down. The second warrior, her robe flowing and her own sword rose to block his in a horizontal movement where they remained in blade-lock neither giving an inch.

"Something bothering you, Hyoudou-san." She broke the sword lock, kicking out with her feet catching him in the abdomen but he merely grunted, being on the defensive as she hammered away at him driving him back.

"Just a troublesome day, Murayama-san." He raised his bokken letting the edge of her own slide over as he used the pommel of his sword to jab at her, taking her breath away as she stumbled back. She managed to roll under his swipe and leveled her weapon against him. She was breathing heavily, sweat dripped down her forehead, itching close to her eye but she suppressed the edge to wipe it away, if this was real combat, she would not give her opponent in a chance to deliver a critical hit.

"Care to tell me about it?" Issei twirled his bokken in hand, deep, measured breaths in and out of his mouth, his foot shifted pointing straight forward. Narrowing his eyes, he surveyed her looking for any weaknesses in her stance but the more time he took, the more stamina she would regain so he acted. The wooden sword flew forward, startling Murayama at the speed and she paid for it feeling the tip press harshly against her shoulder, wincing at the sharp pain that she felt. She almost dropped her sword but pushed his outwards, trying to slash at him but he leaned backward and backflipped away.

"Rias-buchou asked me for help with this guy problem that she's been having for a while now." She swung her sword down and he sidestepped the move but paid for it when he felt his arm sting at being hit. "Nice moves."

"Thanks, but why would Rias-onee-sama ask you for help?" They struggled against in each other with Issei putting his weight behind his attack, trying to dominate her with his strength.

"I had a particular set of skills that she needed." She let go of the sword, twisting his body and he landed on his back, moving his head away from the sword that jabbed downward. His sword whipped out, hitting her ankles and she had fallen down on the mat before she found the edge of a shinai against her throat with Issei's face inches away from her, their bodies glistening with sweat and she was panting at the intense sparring session. "I win."

Noticing the close proximity they were in, Murayama enjoyed how his toned muscles were pressed against her and she found herself disappointed that he stood up before seeing a hand in front of her. "That was a good spar."

"Thanks but you were still the better opponent." She brushed herself off, taking the bokken from him. After getting changed and locking up the club, Issei asked her, "Want to get some yakitori?"

She smiled at his offer, "Of course, Hyoudou-san."

"Are you going to keep calling me that? You know, you can call me Issei right? We are friends after all." Issei said exasperatedly.

"But it's more fun calling you that, Hyoudou-san." Issei's eyebrow twitched at her passive aggressiveness.

* * *

Murayama had her arms wrapped around Issei's waist, driving her home after the offer of food was too good to pass up. She was finding more and more about Issei that she thought were never possible and she was slightly ashamed of herself in believing that Issei was no more than a deadbeat. But today, he had shown a different side that she didn't expect when he wasn't sleeping in class, he was funny and caring, often telling her jokes and stories that made her sides split from laughter. The earlier sparring session had gotten her fire burning, the close contact and focus into the spar exhilarated her more than anything else and she wouldn't mind spending more time with Issei.

She was startled however by the bike swerving on the road and she saw a trench-coated man, standing there and his gaze fell upon Issei. Issei got off the motorcycle, his helmet ripped off and tossed to the side.

"Hey, asshole, don't stand in the middle of the road, you're going to get someone killed you jackass." She was surprised to hear Issei cursing at the man but she would too if he was enough to stand there.

"So you're the one that Raynare failed to eliminate. I always knew she was too weak but I'll be sure to rectify that mistake." The man strode towards them, uncaring of Issei's words and she found herself confused.

"Issei, who is this guy? What's he talking about?" He turned to her with a grave expression and it was a sight that unsettled her, never seeing such a face on the narcoleptic teen.

"Murayama, run, whatever you do just run." He ordered but she was having none of that.

"I'm not going to leave you with some psycho."

"Yes, you are, please do as I say and run." He begged her and she relented, nodding before she ran from the street.

"Not so fast!" He tossed a spear, piercing the air and it was about to hit her when Issei stood in front of her and shattered it with a palm strike.

"Your fight is with me, Fallen." Issei glared, a white film of energy covering his body, pulsing like a heartbeat. She was shocked when black wings ripped itself from the man's back and in his hands a glowing blue spear.

"I really can't let the both of you leave now, witnesses and all that."

"Murayama, run! I'll take care of him." She turned to Issei for a moment, his face hardened glaring at the man. She hesitantly moved away from him, fear striking her body as her legs carried her away. But she swallowed the fear down and hid behind a car watching what they would do.

"You've got some fight in you, boy, I like that. The name's Dohnaseek, remember it as I carve it into your body." The winged man lunged forward with his spear, ready to thrust it into Issei's heart but he ducked to the side, pulling a metal bo staff from the air, no from a red circle, and Murayama's eyes boggled at such a sight.

The two did battle but she saw Issei fighting with much more skill and ferocity then she had ever seen, he batted away all the strikes and returned it two-fold. He swung the metal staff into the man's stomach, folding him in two and sending crashing into a car. The man growled, tossing a spear in retaliation but Issei knocked it away. He disappeared in mid-strike and it left the winged man confused until his body started bouncing all over the place and he was flung into the air where he righted himself.

"That was a warning, I'm giving you this one chance to walk away from this and I'll forget this happened." Murayama had never heard the frosty tone that came out of Issei and he was glaring at the man. At the black-winged angel.

"You brat." A few dozen light spears blinked into existence behind him. "We'll meet again but consider this my parting gift."

The spears shot forward, Issei shattered them with ease but something was coming fast, something sharp, something blu-

 **SQUELCH!**

Her eyes widened, staring at the blue spear embedded in her stomach, dumbstruck at how quickly it had happened. The spear dissipated in her hands and she fell back but she felt strong arms catch her and she saw his eyes. Brown eyes, full of guilt and sorrow, that she reached her hand up to his face.

"No! No! Murayama! Why didn't you run!?" He took off his jacket, trying to put pressure on the wound and she coughed up blood, it hurt, everything hurt.

"I couldn't leave you, I-issei. I don't leave my friends behind." She cracked a smile and a strange sound emerged from his throat, something between a laugh and a sob.

"You idiot. I would have been fine." His body glowed like a radiant angel and she was so sure that he was. "Shit, Murayama, stay with me! Stay with me! Don't die on me!"

She smiled weakly, she wanted him to smile again.

"Remember the sensei I was telling you about. He would have been happy to meet you. Live for that. Come on, live for that." Her vision was getting hazier and all the lights were so pretty. "Tamamo, I need you!"

A beautiful woman came over, she recognised her as the school's nurse but there was something fluffy on her head and she tried to reach out to grab it.

"She's lost too much blood, Issei-kun." Moisture welled up in the corner of her eyes, it was so hard to breathe.

"I don't want to die, Issei." Those words desperately calling out to him and he squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"I'm not gonna let you die." She was fading away, floating in and out of consciousness, a look of distress crossed Tamamo's features.

"You can't, Issei!"

"I got her into this, I'll pay the price for it as well."

'Sleep, I'm so sleepy.' Her vision darkened and everything was turning slipping away. 'Sleep...'

"In the name of Issei Hyoudou, I bestow upon you…"


	4. On The Precipice

**Author's Note**

 **TheAnimeSage:** Hello my dear readers, it's been quite some time since my last chapter. Life happened and 2016 has generally been quite an awful year so far but life goes on.

 **Raskator:** I'm afraid if I do another cliffhanger, you might explode from being so pumped.

 **pochonwes:** Bless you, so nice to have someone think about my story. If you want a good story check out Silent Songbird's stuff.

 **Wizardmon0073:** To be honest, I don't think I'm going to incorporate the big harem list I posted a while ago. I'm not going to force something like that instead, I will write the story as it goes on and see the romance develop naturally.

 **Red Satoshi ketchum:** Sorry this story won't have any characters crossing into it and I'm not that experienced of a writer to juggle so many characters.

 **Verno Rayan:** 'Kept you waiting, huh?'

 **Fenrir44:** Things aren't set in stone. Maybe they'll be there, maybe they won't.

 **Pokemon Trainer Tom:** There will be references, I'm hoping for people to spot them. Ravel, I'm not sure yet until I fully explore her backstory in my mind. On harems, yeah I get what you mean and I'm trying to fight hard against what I want and what's best for this story.

 **Kerlongsj Evert Orlejov:** Thank you for your kind words, and it really does warm my heart when you say that I am an original writer. Sturgeon's Law has not applied to this story. Yay! When I write the characters in this story, I often depict them or represent them in a way that is realistically possible but some of the moments I put in are for the comedic purposes. I really liked Aika and was quite saddened on not seeing her fleshed out as her own person in many other fanfics so I decided 'I can make her awesome.' As for Issei, I wrote him so that he is you know, an actual person and not just a typical manga hero and he says and does things with purpose. He chooses his words carefully so that on the surface, it may seem like one thing but keep in mind that he didn't bow down to Rias instantly.

* * *

 **Beyond Infinite Dreams**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.**

* * *

 _Issei blinked his eyes open, light permeating through the low light windows, and groaned at the throbbing pain that he was feeling in his chest. His vision was still hazy but his other senses were still sharp and he could feel someone else was in the room with him. He tried to sit up from his bed but a hand held him down._

" _No, rest now." He nodded, the aching was too much now and his head fell back on the soft pillow. His sight turned to gaze at the man and he found his eyes to be the most astonishing feature about him. One cerulean and the other blood ruby, shining with wisdom, he sported a five o'clock shadow. "You are the foolish young man I've had the pleasure of meeting." The man walked about the room, bringing in a tray filled with bottles and cups. The man held up a bottle and the little pieces of metal clinked against the glass._

 _"Nothing held back and fighting with your life on the line. You were barely breathing when I found you. I found all these bits of shrapnel lodged in your body."_

 _Issei remained silent and he looked up at the man with a blank expression, hiding away his emotions._ " _You should have left me there to die."_

" _Now why would I do that? You haven't done anything to make me leave you." He shuffled around on the wooden chair and the heavy cloak followed him._

" _But I haven't done anything to make you save me either."_

" _True, I guess it was my decision to make and I chose to save you." He didn't do anything but remained silent and the elder man clicked his teeth distastefully as he inspected the bloodied bandages._

" _It will take you a few weeks to recover."_

" _Then, it will take a week then." Issei said in assurance, no arrogance in his voice but a statement of fact._

" _Don't be so sure about yourself, I will get you some new bandages. Don't move from the bed, you're still recovering." The man left the room, the wooden door clicked behind him and Issei turned his mind inward._

 _The emptiness of his mind greeted him, a swirling vortex of emotions that bathed him in a kaleidoscope of colours and he stood on an island, a chunk of earth that existed in this world and he looked up to see similar islands floating in the world but there was someone missing in this world._

" _Ddraig!" When he didn't see the massive dragon call to him, he felt a cold sensation seep into him. "Ddraig!"_

 _He frantically flew up to search each island, only to find nothing but the silence greeting him. He was about to leave when he saw a new island floating lower than any others._

 _When he touched down, the ground was barren, no life was present save for the dragon resting in front of a massive gate._

" _Ddraig!" He cried happily and ran forward to hug his snout but when the dragon did not respond, he shook him harder._

" _Ddraig, wake up." His happiness turned to worry when his companion did not stir and deep down in the pit of his soul, he knew that he was the cause for Ddraig's state._

" _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He cried despondently and he turned to see the massive gate had several chains over it with a massive lock._

* * *

 **Chapter 4: On The Precipice**

* * *

Tamamo stood by the doorway, her eyes narrowed at the exhausted form of Issei and her eyes moved to the fallen angel who had taken to analyse the curious boy before her and she was dressed in a sweater and pants after convincing her that wearing a dominatrix outfit must have chafed and much to Raynare's chagrin had to admit that she was right. He began to cough and hack but Tamamo's hand was on his chest, soothing him and she wiped a trail of blood from his lips.

"What the hell happened to him?" She noted that his uniform was battered, the cuffs had stains of blood and his red shirt did a good job in hiding the fact that there was a lot of blood on him.

"He did another idiotic thing that almost got him killed." She frowned, her eyes crinkling in thought.

"Disappointed that he didn't die?" She harrumphed, turning her head away, choosing not to dignify that with a response.

"So what's going to happen to that girl you brought?" Tamamo pursed her lips at the other girl, who was slumbering peacefully in the other room.

"That remains to be seen." The cold stare made Raynare uncomfortable and she shifted uneasily on the spot, fiddling with the hem of her sweater. Raynare tried to keep her eyes up but Tamamo's golden ones were far from warm and the awkward silence continued until Issei groaned awake.

"Why do I feel like crap?" He had to clutch his head in pain, getting smacked by an angry fox spirit was not a pleasant experience.

"Because you were being you, stupid." She wasn't smiling and he could see the frustration and the sadness.

"Sorry, Tamamo-chan." He sighed wearily, resting his back against the couch and eyed Raynare.

"What are you doing up so late?" Raynare held a deadpan expression and gestured to the entire apartment.

"Uh hello, trapped in your apartment. Nothing else to entertain me besides the mess that showed up while I was in the middle of watching television." Raynare said quite snidely.

"Well, sorry that your fedora-wearing buddy jumped me in the middle of the street. I'll tell him next time not to bother me, okay?" Raynare stared at him, shocked for a moment.

"What happened?"

"He tried to kill me, I kicked his ass and Murayama got a hole in her stomach. Patched her up as best I could and with Tamamo, we brought her back." He listed off, before getting off unsteadily from the couch and making his way to the kitchen.

"Doesn't explain why you showed up half-dead."

"It was a me thing." Raynare couldn't resist the twitch in her brow at the vague answer. She didn't know what to think of him, one second he was apathetic, the next he was sincere and now he was being vague. All of it was very frustrating to her.

"Anyway, since you have nothing to do here, I'm going to be training you later with Aika and if she accepts Murayama as well." He was still for a moment before perking up and gestured for Tamamo to check up on Murayama.

"Tell me about yourself, Raynare. Why are you a Fallen Angel?" Issei rifled through the cabinents and shrugged before showing a cup of ramen. "You hungry?"

"No. Why do you care? It's not like it matters." She mumbled, pulling her legs up on the seat.

"If you're going to be staying with me, why not get to know each other after all?" She sighed, resigning herself before she began to tell her tale.

"I was born during the tail-end of the War, I was old enough to actually witness God." She laughed hollowly to herself. "Then it ended, it all came to a stop, God and the Satans wiped each other off the map, the Fallen Angels were low in number and the cease-fire was created. I was trained as an assassin to eliminate targets that would be an obstacle to our cause." Issei sat down on the opposite chair, a steaming cup of ramen in hand as he listened to her.

"But really my existence if I was born earlier, based on a singular purpose, to serve a creator who made me to love and serve him. Isn't that selfish?"

"Well, look at us humans. We're born into the world fumbling for meaning and purpose in life, that's why we got free will."

"Lucky you then. You got free-will and we got eternal servitude to God." She bit out angrily.

"No, I think we got the short end of the stick. The problem with us is that we're shouting and screaming for answers for our meaning in life. We're asking someone else to validate our own existence." He slurped the noodles from the cup and she stared at him for some time.

"Being created for one particular purpose is a shitty experience too." She rebutted, Raynare honestly didn't know why she was getting into such a deep conversation with him.

"It's funny then how the human race has the opposite problem."

"Because you were created to be the pawns of every other higher being." She was startled at his laughter and she was trying to wrack her brain on why he would laugh at such a thing.

"That could be an answer but it's because we're left with a terrifyingly abundance of freedom." She blinked in confusion at his words. He slurped the rest of the soup and tossed the plastic cup away.

"What do you mean by a terrifyingly abundance of freedom?"

"Say that there is someone who doesn't believe in God, the government or an organisation. He is a lone man without any purpose in life, and with no guidelines to measure his actions against. He's forced to make up a moral code to live by. Now apply that to every human, and we have to figure out for ourselves how to live."

"That doesn't sound so bad." He snorted in amusement and shook his head.

"You don't understand though, what if that man decides that it's okay for him to slaughter a continent of people because it suited his moral code or if he becomes the world's greatest doctor and saves millions of lives because it fit what he thought was right. That is the terrifying potential on what we are free to do."

"Oh." What could she say to that? She had a straightforward idea on what it meant to have free-will but now here he was laying it out for her. He leaned and bore his eyes into her, judging her.

"And how about you? Whenever you went on a mission and followed someone's order to assassinate someone, did you question whether or not it was right, that it fit your moral code or did you blindly follow them believing that it was?"

"Stop it." She stiffened and balled her hands, she was shaking in anger. How dare he?! How dare he question her on morality!

"How many lives have you taken and really thought about it? Was it your choice or did you justify yourself thinking that you were doing this for a greater cause?" Those eyes, she hated how it had looked into her and scrutinised her.

"Shut up!" She glared, her anger burning in her eyes as she stood up. "What gives you the right to say such things? Do you think yourself so superior to me? You don't even know what I've been through and what things I had to do and here you are, all high and mighty, sitting there and spilling all this crap about me."

Issei waited patiently for Raynare to calm down and he kept his gaze level with her never leaving her eyes. "Raynare, out of all the people in this apartment, I could relate to you the most because I was once like you."

Raynare froze at his admission and he rose to his full height, standing in front of her. "I've done things that…calling it sinful would be putting it mildly but an old man taught me the value of our actions and I spent many nights reflecting on mine."

Issei brushed past her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and she flinched at his touch. "The point I'm trying to make is that take the time to stop and think about yourself and I mean truly think about what you've done and what you will do in the future."

Raynare's eyes closed as a memory, something that she had buried so long ago and it tore her apart, as tears streaked down her face and she collapsed to the floor.

'I'm so sorry, mama.'

* * *

Murayama couldn't believe the words coming from Issei's mouth when he explained everything about the fight from last night. Fallen Angels? Devils? None of it made sense but the proof was there when the school nurse had revealed herself to be the freakin' Tamamo no Mae and was blown away at the fact. When Aika had come over for breakfast with Issei and nonchalantly revealed that she was actually a half-vampire/half-succubus, she was left with one thought.

'That explains so much.'

So here she was, walking with Issei and Aika, a thousand-yard stare on her face and she snapped out of it when they walked past the school gate.

"Oi we're here. Look, just… meet me after school and I'll… work something out so you don't have to worry about anyone else killing you." She nodded dumbly and took a step forward before being dragged away by an exuberant Katase who was whispering at a fast pace and asking questions on why she was walking with Issei.

Issei watched as Murayama got dragged to her group of friends who were gesturing wildly in his direction and he scratched his head, puzzled at their behaviour. He wasn't that bad, was he?

He was blindsided by Matsuda and Motohama who dragged him away and they turned to Aika. "Excuse for a moment, we just need to have a quick chat with a friend."

"How the hell did you get the freaking Captain of the Kendo Club to walk with you?" Matsuda cried indignantly.

"What did you do? Did you bribe her? Hypnotise her? Blackmail her?" Motohama joined in on the interrogation but Issei already irritated shrugged off the questions.

"What the hell's gotten into the both of you? I met her on the way to school and we got to talking, what's the big deal?" They both spluttered in exasperation.

"Big deal? Dude, do you know how much this could mean to us, we'd get access to peep at girls whenever we want if you're laying the foundations for a good...relationship."

"What do you mean relationship?"

"Don't think we didn't miss the glazed over look in her eyes." He had to groan at that misunderstanding and the urge to slap them was taking remarkable restraint on his part. "Look, I'm not helping you spy on girls just so you can look at some boobs."

"But they are glorious breasts, big, round and perky with amazing nipples that I want to stuff my face in them." Motohama yelled proudly, a couple of girls walked by looking at them with loathing.

"Ew, it's those guys. Talking about it so openly."

"Shameful!"

"So awful."

"Erm, I mean can you teach us how to get a girlfriend?" Issei sighed at the hopelessness of these two.

"Just tone it down with the perversions…-"

"Appreciation." Matsuda interjected before being stopped by the blank stare from Issei. "Continue."

"And treat girls with the respect that they deserve. If you actually get to point when you go on an actual date, be nice, be yourself but not 'yourself'. Do you get what I mean?" They nodded, accepting the answer.

"Thank you so much, Issei!"

"Surely, your words of wisdom will help us in our dream to attain a harem!" Issei tried to hide himself from the numerous glares being sent his way. He chopped their heads when they continued their overzealous worshipping.

"What did I say before about shouting your dreams?"

"Not to." They murmured before giggling madly to themselves. Matsuda pulled out a DVD with the case showing various girls in erotic positions and various states of undress "Ah, well I just got the newly released _Tropical_ _Kiss_ , and I'm so excited to watch this. Say Issei, do you want to join us?"

"No, no you guys can help yourselves, I've got some business to take care of after school." He walked back to Aika who was waiting for him.

"What did they want to talk about?" Aika asked with a raised brow and Issei stopped her with a raised hand.

"Let's not go there." He spotted Rias on the second floor who was peering down at him and he reciprocated with a two-fingered salute.

* * *

"So where are we going?" Issei asked with a yawn, Aika and Murayama were trailing behind him. Issei had been invited personally by Rias to deal with a stray devil as well as making amends for manipulating him the way that she did, and to show how the Evil Pieces worked. He had accepted her invitation but not without adding that Aika and Murayama tag along as well. Rias had asked why Murayama and he had sarcastically responded that the threat of the rogue Fallen had revealed the Supernatural world to her, to which she mentally kicked herself for failing in her duty to protect her territory.

The group were standing before a dilapidated building, one where you would suspect that it would make a great filming location for a cheesy horror movie or a hideout for kids to play their made up games but this place oozed a sense of dread that put off many who walked by. However to Rias, it was sign that they were in the right place. She turned to the confused girls to explain for their benefit, "We received an order from the Arch Duke that the stray devil Viser was in this area and as I'm the devil charged with this territory, it is my job to track down and eliminate it."

Noticing that disinterested look from Issei, she further explained, "This will give me the opportunity to show you the traits that my servants have."

"Hmm, this will be an educational experience then."

"Quite." This raised more questions and Rias took this time to clarify herself. "To explain why my servants have traits, I must explain the history of my kind."

"There was a conflict, a war between three factions, the devils, the fallen angels and the angels. All three were led by the Four Satans, The Governor General and God respectively, where they fought for eons and each side were evenly matched with each other. However, while they were all evenly matched, they had lost most of their troops and the war ended centuries ago with no one winning."

Akeno continued after her the red-haired president.

"Now, the devils are no exceptions to this and most of the troops fell in battle. Some of the 72 pillars have been wiped to extinction due to this war and that is why we can no longer form any new armies and have turned to an alternate method." She held a serene smile. "Even though a ceasefire has been issued, there have been tension between the three factions and a system was devised to replenish our numbers."

Rias held her hand up and a bishop chess piece, floated above her palm. "This is the Evil Piece system. High-ranking devils are gifted with their evil pieces and it allows us to reincarnate any being to become a devil. It was modeled after the human game of 'chess' and we have come to use those traits for our devil servants. The master of the peerage is given the rank of 'King', which is me. Now, as you know there are different pieces such as the Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn with all their unique traits. Although, we can't make an army, a small group of devils with a massive boost in power compensates for that number. This system was created in the past and has become popular amongst devils with their peerages as a way of settling conflict and a form of entertainment."

"Popular how?"

"Well, everyone started to compete against each other. Some would compare the strength of their pieces, saying 'My Bishop is stronger!' or 'My Pawn can take down your knight!' High-class devils would start to play a game like chess using our servants which we called the 'Rating Game'. As its popularity continue to grow, it has become a competitive sport with tournaments. I think that's enough for now."

The group nodded dumbly at the exposition, before she strode forward past the threshold. A heavy atmosphere flooded the room. Murayama almost dropped down to her knees at the killing intent being directed to her that was stopped as Issei shielded her from the presence.

"Now what could that smell be? I can smell something disgusting. But I can also smell something delicious? Is it sweet or bitter?"

Emerging from the shadows was a woman with her top half naked, but the bottom half was grotesque which could only be described as a monstrous centaur with claws and teeth.

"It's here."

"Thank you, Koneko." Issei said dryly as she pointed out the giant monster that was literally standing in the middle of the room.

"Stray devil, Viser. You have abandoned your master, and have let your powers run rampant. You will face judgement for your sins. In the name of the Gremory, I will destroy you."

The woman smirked at her with a half-lidded gaze. "What an impudent little brat you are. Shall I dye all of you in bright red, like that hair of yours?"

She began fondling her breasts, laughing manically as Murayama stood there in disgust while Aika shifted over to Issei and covered his eyes with her hand.

"Are you sure... this is a stray devil and not a weird exhibitionist?" Issei commented and slapped her hand away, the magical circles that appeared around the stray devil's nipples shot a yellow beam towards them. Everyone dodged from the attack except for Issei who just leaned down.

"Hey, 500 yen." He surveyed the wall behind him which was slowly trickling down with acid.

"Do succubi have ac-"

"No." She said definitively and he pouted before shuffling over to where Rias was, backflipping from another glob.

"Watch closely. Yuuto." Yuuto's hand hovered over his sword before disappearing before them.

"Wow, he's fast." Murayama gushed in awe.

"Yuuto's position is that of a knight, meaning that he's speciality is speed." He was under the monster and with two swipes, the arms fell off with a heavy thunk and Viser screeched in agony as blood sprayed from her stumps. Koneko, the white-haired girl that reminded Issei of a cat, stepped forward. Viser transformed once more, her beautiful appearance shifted, her teeth growing longer and the slit in the middle of her legs grew massive jaws that enveloped Koneko in one bite.

"That is one monster vagina." Issei's comment earned him a whack from Aika.

The jaws were slowly being pried open by the diminutive girl although her uniform was in tattered exposing her bra and panties.

"Koneko is my rook, her speciality is strength." The little girl's fist slammed into Viser's torso, and she flew back with tremendous force shattering a pillar.

"Akeno." The vice-president stalked forward towards the grounded devil, with a tranquil smile. "Ara ara, whatever should I do with you, I wonder?"

Something in Akeno's tone sent alarm bells ringing in Issei's head as he narrowed his eyes at her deceptively sweet voice before seeing the clawed arm move from the rubble. He watched as it flew towards Rias, its sharp nails ready to tear out her delicate throat. He swiped it from the air and used it to scratch at a particular itch on his back.

"Ahh that's so much better." He sighed in bliss and Rias stared in bewilderment before casually tossing the hand behind him, bursting into a ball of fire.

"Those who try to lay a hand on my president...will be punished!" Lightning arced between Akeno's fingertips.

"Akeno is my queen, she has all the traits of my pieces but her speciality is magic."

"Oh my you still look alive. I'll have to fix that, won't I?" A beam of lightning struck her, electrocuting the stray devil who screamed in agony.

"Also she's the ultimate sadist." The fact that she said this with a smile as Akeno continued to light up the enemy like a christmas tree. "That will do, Akeno."

Akeno seemed sullen that she couldn't get to continue to 'play' with her new toy and cupping her cheek but the sadistic smile was still there and she acquiesced to Rias' order.

Rias walked towards the charred and blackened body of Viser who moaned pitifully.

"Any last words, Viser?"

"Kill me." She said simply, wanting the pain to end.

"Very well." A ball of red energy coalesced in her hand hovering over her palm before it flew forward, enveloping Viser.

Everyone watched as the woman disintegrated before their very eyes, the only evidence that she was alive at some point were the splatters of blood on the floor.

"That concludes the demonstration of our roles here."

Murayama's thoughts on how she so casually wiped the monster from existence shocked her to the core. She had some preconceived notions that devils would take your soul in a contract but here she was finding out that they protected the town from supernatural beings even people from their own race.

Issei swept his eyes over to Rias and her peerage who looked at him with expectant gazes and he struggled to find the words to conclude his thoughts. "It was…interesting."

Rias caught on to the fact that he wasn't entirely telling the truth but let him be as pursuing that line of questioning was exhausting so she nodded, accepting his answer.

"I guess we'll bid you adieu." He waved before handing her a blank tile piece.

"What's this?"

"It will be important in the future, but hold onto that for now." Rias held the tile up to her eye and turned to find that Issei and his friends were gone. She put a hand to her temple to stave the headache that was Issei and figured that she would deal with it tomorrow.

* * *

Whistling as he hopped down the stairs to the basement of the apartment complex, he found Raynare, Aika and Murayama were waiting for him. Raynare looked at the dusty basement in disgust before she sniffed irritably. Aika seemed to have found her amusement by mercilessly teasing Murayama evident by her reddening face.

"Aika, stop teasing Murayama, I'm pretty sure all the blood rushing to her head isn't healthy for her." Aika still held the cheeky grin and directed her perverted leer towards me. "No, Aika. Bad."

"Aww, you're always ruining my fun."

"I'm doing my job to protect Earth from the evil forces of Aika." She stuck her tongue out in a childish rebuttal while Issei rolled his eyes before pulling out a key from his pocket. He jabbed it into the air before an oak door appeared in front of them, the silver key nestled in the lock and Issei turned.

Opening the door, they were greeted to the sight of a desolate, brown, craggy land that was dotted with dead trees and on the far side, they could see a big lake with a tiny island in the centre. Raynare quickly stripped off her uniform and transformed into her true form a.k.a the BDSM clothing while Aika had taken to wearing a black sports bra and some shorts. Murayama was hesitant in changing but Issei pointedly turned away while he handed her the training clothes. She muttered a quick thank and her respect grew for him when he didn't turn around only steadfastly staring at the wall.

It was amazing that Issei's composure didn't break when Aika tried to distract him with her warm-up stretches. He knew that puberty was hitting Aika quite nicely by her still developing bust and her shapely rear. Damn, she was good but he didn't let her know that because this was an ongoing game for the last year and he didn't want to lose at this point.

"Alright, I'm going to be training you three to be the very best at kicking ass, but first," He clapped his hands together, getting their attention. "By the end of this month, you will be stronger, faster...deadlier. But first things first, what the hell are you wearing?"

"It's my combat outfit." She said, to see him raise an eyebrow at her 'combat outfit'.

"Yeah, if the combat zone was the dungeon and the enemy was strapped with his arms and legs to the bed. Then I could definitely see you defeating someone in that."

"Hey! This outfit works, it distracts the guys while I shove my spear into their chest."

"Doesn't really do much if your opponent is better than you and could capture you, by then you already dressed yourself for the part of what he's going to do to you." Raynare scowled fiercely at his verbal assault but when she saw something in his eyes. A pain as he said those words and she decided not to be brash in her actions this time so she grunted her acceptance. A runic circle flared to life before some shorts and a shirt fell into Issei's hand, tossing it to Raynare who grumbled changing into it.

"One more thing," He tossed her a blank shogi piece and she caught it, looking at him in confusion. "What is it?"

"If I'm going to train you, then you need to have that at all times." She shrugged before stuffing it into her pocket. He tossed another piece to Murayama who accepted it as well.

"Anyway, I will be having my lovely assistant help me today." Tamamo appeared wearing her traditional outfit and was smiling rather eerily at Aika.

"What kind of training are we going to be doing?" Aika said uneasily as a fireball appeared in front of Tamamo.

"Evasive training." He picked up a few rocks from the ground, lightly tossing them up in the air before Raynare took to the air hoping that it would give her an advantage before she was pelted by rocks.

"Stay on the earth, learn how to dodge on steady ground first." She clicked her teeth in irritation, landing on the ground before a rock struck her shoulder.

"I didn't say stop dodging." She cursed inwardly, when she had to twist her body from a hail of rocks from Issei, who she could sworn had a grin on his face.

Murayama, however, had an easier time going at it as she had been trained to dodge attacks from close-range but a few rocks struck her and she was reminded that even though she was good, she was going to have to be better if she didn't want to be hit.

"Ehm, Tamamo-san I didn't mean to grope you last night, we're good right?" Aika said nervously, sweat dripping down her brow.

"Oh silly Aika, we're good when I say we're good." A dozen fireballs burst into existence around her as one thought ran through Aika's mind.

"Help!" She mentally screamed.

* * *

Issei looked down at the panting girls on the floor. He situated himself on a boulder and let out a breath, feeling that the last few hours of training was cathartic in some way with Raynare screaming abuse at him while Aika pleaded with Tamamo to stop throwing fireballs and Murayama had questioned his sanity on using these insane methods. She was answered with a hail of rocks.

"Y-you s-sadistic ass." Raynare groaned, rubbing at the bruises as she tried to sit herself up to breathe easier and turned to meet her tormenter who was busy digging away at the inside of his ear.

"Sorry, couldn't hear that, did you say you want to continue training?" She paled instantly and shook her head.

"I think they did very well for their first day of training." Tamamo said airily bringing a tray of tea over to him. Issei pondered that he would have a lot of work to do if he were to train them to meet his standards but he was impressed with their potential.

Raynare while she was a low-level angel with only a pair of wings, she was learning quickly and adapting to her situation far better than he had expected though the bruises attested to her efforts and he was pleased that she was trying to improve herself.

"He threw rocks like they were javelins." Raynare complained to the girl next to her.

Aika, thanks to her vampire and succubus heritage, had shown remarkable speed being able to nimbly dodge, duck and weave out of the fireballs. Tamamo took this as a personal challenge and had conjured up several more fireballs launching them faster than before leaving Aika with more than a few singes.

Murayama was showing the aptitude to become a great swordsman, thinking fast on her sweet and her agility was nothing to scoff at. He had to give credit to the Captain of the Kendo Club, she took her training very seriously and Issei was glad to see the determination in her eyes.

"At least he didn't throw fireballs at you." Sometime during the training session,all of them had ended up running together and a strange camaraderie had formed between the three for their mutual loathing of Tamamo and Issei as they ran away from explosive fireballs and pieces of stones that left cracks on boulders.

"Alright, that was a good warm-up now we can start training." All of their eyes bugged out at what he said before he laughed uproariously falling from the boulder as he tried to stifle the laughter from his mouth but it was a futile effort. They all glowered darkly at him but that just fueled his howls as he rolled on the ground clutching his stomach.

"But it is time for us to stretch our legs, isn't it Tamamo-chan?" He grinned to her, standing up from his boulder.

"Are we planning to give them a demonstration or do you want us to go all out?" Her outfit disappeared replaced by a black catsuit with no sleeves and silver rings that covered her wrists and ankles.

"A bit of both." He said casually. A silver ring illuminated itself behind Tamamo and she exploded forward, cracking the ground underneath her. Her form was nothing more than a blur to the spectators but Issei could see her getting closer, a foot extended to cave in his chest. He bent his body backwards, watching as her leg sailed over his face.

She wasn't deterred with her miss and burst back into the fray with another kick to his side. Issei brought his forearm to block her and grabbing her outstretched leg, he proceeded to slam his fist down her face driving her to the ground. She caught herself and watched as his punch cracked the ground where her head would be and magic rune sprung up in the palm of her hand, a powerful gust swept Issei away from her and she brought her hands forward, the rings around her wrist glowed with power as several spears of ice formed in the air and moved forward to skewer Issei.

He batted each spear aside easily but he wasn't prepared for the earth to shoot up with jagged spikes and he had to roll out of the way if he didn't want to be impaled. His hands flashed and a runic circle appeared in front of him, revealing a bow. He grasped it in hand, firing several volleys at her with his energy providing ammunition. She was calm however and a wall of ice, blocked the arrows.

He poured much of his energy into his last arrow and watched as he let it loose streaking forward and crashing into the ice, shattering it. Tamamo had her hands in front of her again but a massive runic array glowed ominously.

"Well, things are starting to get serious, aren't they?" Issei took in a deep breath, a film of energy surrounding his body. "Guess I got to be serious as well."

" **Grand Incineration!** " A beam of concentrated plasma shot forward, destroying boulders and carving a deep trench into the ground, melting it into slag as it came closer.

He stepped forward, pulling his fist back, the seal behind his glove glowing as he did so and launched it forward meeting the beam where it split into two but Tamamo instantly put up barrier after barrier in place.

The result of Issei's punch wasn't truly realised until they could hear the sound of glass shattering and they watched as Tamamo's last two barriers had sported cracks on them. She released the technique and panted a little.

"What."

"The."

Fuck." Each word was punctuated by the girls as they watched the spectacular battle take place in front of them and the awe-inspiring attacks each combatant did raise their respect for them.

'I never stood a chance against him.' Raynare thought as she watched Issei prepare himself for another round with Tamamo.

* * *

'Is it wrong to be kind?'

Asia Argento had pondered the question when she had left Europe, excommunicated from the church. She had been praised by them, they had called her 'The Holy Priestess' and she had thanked God for giving her the gift to help people, to heal the sick and the people in pain. Until one day, she had helped him, a devil, but she had smiled and used her power to heal him.

When they found out what she had done, all the praises turned to scorn. "A gift that can heal a devil is blasphemous!" They said. Her kindness, her compassion was rewarded with pain and betrayal and she was reminded of her existence. Something that she had tried to forget, but she had always known that was always alone.

'Is it wrong to feel joy and sorrow?'

She was far out of her comfort zone, where she had lived a life to devoting herself to serving God and healing the sick with her power but she had always wished what it was like to be the people she saw, who laughed and cried. To simply be like them instead of being 'The Holy Priestess' and a cynical thought entered her mind for a moment, 'Now I have all the time in the world to be normal.'

But her train of thought was interrupted, when she felt a droplet of rain splash on her face and she realised that the clouds had darkened, the grey cast over the sky as more droplets fell down from the sky. She stood there in the rain, her suitcase clutched tightly in one hand as she closed her eyes and simply lost herself in the cascade of water.

Her clothes were completely soaked at this point but she found that the rain was liberating, in a way. Many would say that the rain was quite sad, that it was reminder of the all the misfortune in your life but the rain was there for the people who needed the rain express their sorrows, even when their tears had dried up long ago or to mask the pain for when there were tears. She loved the rain though, the way that it poured down on her, drenched her, it was washing away her past, her faults and absolving her of her sins.

She noticed that her body had stopped being pelted by the rain and saw a hand holding an umbrella over her. She traced that hand to his arm and eventually to the face of the handsome brown-haired boy, who smiled warmly at her. He was dressed in a long coat and he kept his eyes to her and she wanted to look away but he was mesmerising.

"You're gonna catch a cold, if you stay out here like that." His voice hummed, in contentment as he stared out towards the emptiness, the never-ending rain. "But it is something to admire, you know, the rain."

She felt her heart beat faster, standing closely to this angel, the thunderous roar dulled to white noise as she focused on his words. "If we fall in the mud, the rain would be there to wash it away, purifying us, leaving us cleansed and whole again."

"The rain moves from drizzling to torrential, you think to yourself, that things will always be like this, that it will never get better, and it will only continue to get worse."

The pounding of her heart drowned out the rain and his eyes, so warm and full of compassion, stared deeply into her own and she felt her mood lift up, her sadness being washed away by his smile like the water down a storm drain.

"Even though the rain can be quite sombre to many, it's necessary for us to have these sad times because it makes the good times all the more precious." He unclasped the long coat and brought it over her shoulders.

"You know, it's not right for a girl like you to look so sad." She stammered shyly, trying to deny his words but she nodded instead.

"Thank you, I'm just going through a trial from God..." She trailed, embarrassed that she didn't ask for his name but he returned it with a soft smile on his lips.

"Oh, you're a sister of the cloth?" She shuffled nervously on the spot, not sure how to answer that she was excommunicated from the church as the topic was still too sore to mention in front of a stranger, albeit a handsome one. No, she had to keep impure thoughts out of her mind.

"I-is it alright if you help me find the church in this town?" She asked quietly and the warm smile was there again, making her heart beat and her face flush.

"As you wish." Asia never knew the moment she took his hand, her life would irrevocably change.

* * *

 **What do you think? Like, favourite and review.**


	5. Awaken from False Dreams

**Author's Note**

 **TheAnimeSage** : Hello readers, it's been a while now since I posted my last chapter, unfortunately this was a very difficult chapter to write through but my beta reader **orlha** has been very helpful and I'd love to give a big shout-out and check out her work. I've read through some of the reviews and I'd like to say thank you except for one guest reviewer who has probably never had the pleasure of working all night and going to school in three hours. Anyways onto the good reviews!

* * *

 **Beyond Infinite Dreams**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD.**

* * *

 _The breeze was cold, colder than it normally was, when it swept over Issei's skin, he was restless staying in the comforting grip of his mattress. Outside the door to his room, he could hear grunts and shouts, as if a giant beast had stumbled to his place of rest. Struggling to move his body from under the sheets, Issei's feet moved agonisingly slow away from the promise of comfort. His body shaking with the effort to move that the cold floor was a shock to his system, that comfort was now on the forefront of his mind._

 _"Where are you going?" The man with mesmerizing heterochromatic eyes asked softly, his body leaning forward until the heavy cloak clasped around his shoulders shifted._

 _"To get my friend back." He had only taken three steps and he was out of breath already. God, was he pathetic without Ddraig._

 _The stranger behind him chuckled, somewhat mocking and pitying. How did he get there? Issei gritted his teeth in anger at the man, he didn't want his pity. He hated it._

 _Being weak._

 _Being helpless._

 _Issei became aware of the red that was seeping through the white bandages. It was strange, every movement he made, he could feel everything move forward with him. When he looked down to see an angry red line stretching from his shoulder to his hip, he flinched.. The pain slammed him as hard as a battering ram, and he fell to the floor. Globs of blood spluttered the floor, Issei could feel the throbbing in his chest screaming at him with each second. He craned his head upward to see the stranger kneeling before him. Red and blue eyes burned into Issei's that his throat run dry at the man's intimidating presence. Warmth spread from the back of his throat to the bottom of his stomach, like fire fending of the cold. He had almost forgotten this feeling of kindness._

 _"Don't strain yourself. It took a miracle and a half to get your organs to stay in your body," The man's fingers twitched and Issei found himself frozen in place, panicking at being subjected to the man's power. He couldn't move, couldn't struggle, couldn't do anything but his fears were for naught. The stone floor wasn't beneath him anymore, replaced by the soft mattress. Fear led to curiosity._

 _"Then why did you let me get as far as I could?"_

 _The man sat back on his chair, leaning his face on his palm and stared at Issei in amusement."I believe my words would have fallen on deaf ears on someone like you, so another teacher was required for this lesson," The man nudged Issei with a stick and Issei hissed at the electric pain that flared on his side. Issei couldn't decide whether or not this man was helping him or torturing him, but the grin on the man's face told him that whichever it was, he was taking joy in it. "Would you like to continue learning from this teacher or do words appeal now?"_

 _Issei only acknowledged him with a grunt and the man's face lit up in mirth at his response, a wide grin adorned his face. Nothing could really faze the man into a negative emotion. He couldn't do anything much less move with this man watching him and Issei exhaled in annoyance._

 _"Tell me about yourself, kid."_

 _Issei remained silent, choosing to stare at the ceiling while the master sat down in front of him, putting the cane across his lap. The hefty cloak pooled around him as he waited patiently for the stubborn young boy lying on the bed._

 _"I'm willing to wait and watch you recover all day if you're not going to talk." The man's eyes twinkled at sight of seeing the young man growl in frustration. "Did you have anyone else you can turn to?"_

 _Issei frowned at that and was reminded of his betrayal. It struck him now that he was alone, powerless and nothing to live for that Issei did break his silence._

 _"No."_

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Awaken from False Dreams**

* * *

"Issei-san, I need your help in investigating something." Rias was seated behind her desk in the Occult Research Club, a perfect picture of poise, grace and beauty as it was trained in her. All the boys that would see her would swoon and do everything to satisfy her and all the girls would wish to be the same as their great Onee-sama; but to the person in front of her, it didn't matter because it was purely business between them.

"And what would that be?" Issei's brow furrowed curiously. The brown-haired teen was far more calm and collected than Aika in the room, who was currently petting Koneko. She was trying her best to signal her displeasure to Rias however much to her dismay, Rias' attention was focused squarely on Issei.

"One of our contractors hasn't contacted us recently and I'm beginning to fear that something might have happened to him. Go to this place and see if our contractor is still there. If anything happens, use this to call us." She handed him a slip of paper with the Gremory seal.

"So a check-up then? That's surprisingly easy." He inspected the paper as he wondered why he had accepted the request in the first place. Issei glanced at Aika, her head tilted innocently, fingers raking over Koneko's white hair with a deceptively sweet smile. Why did Aika have to be so insistent in her demands and why did he have to give in to them?

"I apologise if nothing exciting will happen. It's just that I need to confirm if my worries are warranted." And life was so simple until she said that.

"As you wish." He pocketed the paper, inclining his head to Rias respectfully before spinning on his heel, grabbing his blazer on the coat rack.

"Let's go, Aika." The girl's cheek blew up in a fair imitation of a child having been denied their sweets and Issei felt like the dad who had to appease his daughter's silly whims. He guessed life was never simple to begin when he was friends with her.

Rias bit her lip hesitantly not sure on her course of action but she had already made up her mind.

"Issei." He turned around, noting the way her eyes had turned to the side refusing to meet his before she bowed her head. "Thank you."

Perhaps, it wasn't purely business to Issei anymore upon hearing those sincere words. All he did was nod and quietly leave with Aika in tow, leaving Rias to continue on with her duties though much happier in seeing that her relationship with Issei was showing signs of getting better.

* * *

"So Issei, you seem more relaxed. Who did you meet?" She said teasingly, her lips quirking into a smirk. Aika's hands were clasped behind her back as her glasses glinted to give a mischievous look. Issei glanced at the girl, feeling that denying her answers only would result in her constant pestering but at the same time reluctant to give her any more ammunition to use against him.

Issei sighed, lips twitching in displeasure. He just wanted to satisfy her curiosity and be done with it. "Someone relaxing."

"Who is it? Tell me, tell me, tell me." She bounced up and down on the spot petulantly. The insistent nagging wasn't the thing that grated on his nerves, oh no, it was the smile on her lips that told him that she wasn't going to let him forget this conversation if he gave in.

"What are you, five?" He sped up his pace so as to not continue the conversation only to find that she was standing in front of him, with a glint in her eye that she wasn't willing to let it go so easily.

"You're keeping me in suspense." Issei clasped her shoulders, moved her out of the footpath and continued onward to their destination. The problem was that her arms were now wrapped around his neck which was attracting strange looks from other passerbys.

"If I tell you, will you stop holding yourself on me like a giant sloth?" Her face scrunched up in mock consideration and she stood in front of him with a victorious grin.

"Alright, I met a nun." Aika's face was blank but her eyes widened with each second and a dawning expression of awe on her.

"Wow, I didn't know you were into that kind of fetish." This elicited an indignant response from him and she burst into laughter at seeing him flustered before she managed to get herself to calm down.

"So I escorted her to the church in town but..." He paused taking time to mull over his words, leaning against the fence deep in thought.

"But what?" Aika asked, seeing Issei frown was never a good sign and the growl of frustration that left his lips only confirmed that.

"It's weird though, the only church in town is abandoned and she's staying there to redeem herself."

"So? She's going to fix up the church to atone for whatever she did." She dismissed the claim easily with a wave of her hand yet Issei's frown deepened, not letting the matter go.

"No, I don't buy it, there's something else going on and it involves her. Unfortunately it's going to have to wait until I get a chance to look into that area."

"Fine. Though it begs the question, if that nun wasn't your type then what is?"

"Big boobs and an onion butt." He said seriously, staring straight into her eyes.

"What's an onion butt?"

"An ass that will bring tears to your eyes." Iseei joked, stopping short of the open door. It wasn't just the door ajar in the middle of the night that caused his hesitation, it was the cloying metallic scent that gagged him.

Aika lifted her head, nostrils flaring as she breathed in deep. "There's blood and lots of it."

'Well, I tempted fate and she delivered.' Issei thought and grimaced. He ventured on however his legs felt like they were floating. Darkness had enveloped the room save for a faint light in one of the rooms. He raised a finger to his lips and Aika nodded grimly.

Peering into the crack of the door to see candles lit, he pushed the door open, eyes sweeping across to see a sofa, television and a coffee table. His sights turned to-

"Issei, what is it?" Aika said, after seeing Issei pause on the spot.

"Aika, close your eyes." Issei warned her. She didn't need to see this. She didn't need to see such brutality.

"What are you talking...about…" It was too late however when she saw the body nailed to the wall. Thick, dark red liquid leaked from his wounds, he was nailed in a grotesque and blasphemous fashion mocking his very death. An upside down cross.

Bile burned the back of Aika's throat at witnessing such a gruesome sight. Issei walked closer to the body, not paying heed to the fact that Aika was retching behind the kitchen counter and whispered a silent prayer for the dead man.

"'Punishment for those who did bad deeds!'" Issei quoted, reading aloud the blood writing on the wall.

"That's correct, you shitty devil." The voice surprised the two teens and Aika had to reflexively duck from a shot fired at her, rolling next to Issei, who erected a barrier that stopped any other shots from reaching them.

A figure stepped forward into the room. The white hair was the first thing that stood out to them - with a young bishounen look, dressed in a priest's garbs. From what Issei could tell from his looks, he appeared to be a pretty asshole.

"I take it you were responsible for the man's death." Issei gestured to the man on the wall, his eyes narrowed at the man who seemed to find amusement in his reaction.

"Of course, it was me. I can't let someone like him live. He was a devil-worshipper." He whispered to them as if it was some big secret.

"Who are you?" Issei dropped the barrier, his form hovering in front of Aika to protect her from anything that the insane man would throw at them.

"Me? I'm Freed Sellzen. I'm an exorcist. And you must be the shitty devil sent here. I don't need to know your name though. Oh no! Because you're going to die. You're going to experience a tingling sensation at first from the light particles in my sword but then excruciating pain once you notice me shoving it through your chest." Freed giggled hysterically on the spot and Aika could only stare bemused at the man.

'So, he wasn't just a pretty asshole, he's an insane pretty asshole.' Issei thought as he watched the exorcist continue his inane laugh before he turned his attention to Aika.

"Oh, what a pretty lady you have here. After I'm done ramming my sword through him, I'm going to ram my other sword through you. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Aika sneered in disgust at the vulgar man. "There's only one person who can touch me and it's certainly not you." Her aura flared while horns grew from her head, black leathery wings tore from her back, the nails on her hand extended and the canines in her teeth sharpened. Aika's eyes burned with fury at the audacity of this vulgar man, "Oh, we'll see soon enough."

"This isn't the work of an exorcist, someone like you wouldn't kill a human being. Not even devils do this."

"They don't see it?! No, they can't see it because they're trash. You devils are trash! It's useless though but it's going to be so much fun killing you. It's going to be great!"

Freed took a silver tube and gun from his pocket with a deranged smile. The tube activated with a hiss as an energy blade popped out. Issei had to admit, he always wanted a lightsaber.

"I'm gonna cut him into tiny chunks and feed it to you while I fuck you. Aren't you excited?!" He dashed forward, his light sword swinging madly in an effort to cut Issei down while he fired his gun at Aika. His cries of insane laughter were cut short when Issei jabbed him in the throat. He tried to pierce him with a nail from the cross but the priest jumped back and felt the full force of Aika's kicked that ploughed him through a wall.

"Oh that was a good kick. I'll enjoy cutting off that leg. Die!" His fingers squeezed the trigger again and again. Bullets of light showered the two students, the wood splintered and they rolled behind cover.

 _Click! Click! Click!_

Issei took this moment, his feet covered the distance between him and the exorcist. His fingers balled up into a fist. Issei really hated this man. From his words, his actions and him threatening to rape Aika. Issei didn't want this man to die. No, death was too quick for him. He would make him feel the pain that his victims felt. He stepped back, the light sword missing his chin. Issei sweep kicked the man that brought him down, stunning him again with a swift punch. Aika stomped on the priest's wrist, hard. The bone snapped with a loud crack and he released his grip on the light sword. Issei grabbed a fistfull of the man's collar.

 _CRUNCH!_

Issei broke the exorcist's nose and half his face was covered with blood. He cocked his fist back, ready to slam it into the man's nose again.

"Stop!"

Issei froze and turned to the source of the voice. At the foot of the stairs, dressed in her nun's habits was Asia. Her eyes were wide, terrified at seeing them and she saw the corpse nailed to the wall. She screamed in horror.

"Hahaha! Oh, thank you for the scream, that person had to die though. He was worshipping devils and we couldn't have that."

Once she managed to tear her eyes away from the corpse, she came closer and the moon illuminated his face.

"Father...Freed...he...he's…"

"This shit stain is a devil and so is the fucking slut with him."

"Be quiet." Aika stepped harder on his broken wrist and he howled in pain.

"Issei-san is a...devil?" She said in disbelief. She was speechless, trying to process the information.

"I'm not a devil, Asia." Issei raised his hands to placate her. Freed was still struggling but it was quickly remedied and the exorcist is lying motionless on the floor. Issei closed his eyes, feeling a group of people headed towards them.

"We have to go." He took hold of Asia's hand but she flinched.

"Please, Asia, trust me." She was hesitant with her choice before giving a shaky nod and all three disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Rias was enjoying a nice cup of tea made by Akeno when she sensed something amiss. She noticed that the runic circle usually glowing red when in use by anyone under the Gremory house, was flaring in violet and she had readied her power of destruction against the intruders. As she saw three people show up, she fired the black ball and watched as the figure in the middle smack it away. She was about to charge up another one when the figure yelled for her to stop in a voice that she recognised instantly.

"Issei?" Rias stepped out from behind her desk, the ball in her hand building and pulsing.

"Yeah, it's me. Please don't shoot." He said placatingly, holding his hands up in the air.

"I'm considering it for getting me all worked up." She said with a smirk when she took notice of the other people with him, one she knew well but the other she didn't. The nun habits and holy cross on her neck forced her on guard instantly.

"Issei. Who is she?" She asked him tersely, her cheery expression turned sour.

"She's…a friend."

"You're treading on some thin ice, if you think that's going to explain everything." Issei stood in front of Asia as she shook nervously under the intense gaze of Rias. The oppressive aura that was directed at her mitigated as the young redheaded devil took a deep breath. "I like you, Issei. I accepted both you and Aika into this club in the hopes that we could become friends. What I don't appreciate is bringing one of your 'friends' who appears to be involved with our enemies into the heart of Gremory territory."

"Rias, I was doing this to save her. Asia is a good person but she's just fallen in with a bad crowd, for a lack of a better term. The guy that I told you to investigate was killed by a stray exorcist who brought her with him."

"Then why take her?" She said cuttingly.

"If you saw the priest yourself, you'd understand. He was deranged, sadistic, a total nutjob and I was afraid what he'd to Asia if I left her. Hell I got angry with what he said he'd do to Aika. He had backup on the way so I teleported to the one place I knew they wouldn't follow us." He said pointedly at the floor, more specifically at the runic circle.

"How did you hijack our teleportation circle? Only people under the Gremory House can use it."

"Wasn't hard."

"Issei, this is stretching the boundaries of our relationship given your actions tonight." Aika stepped in and provided the much need break to the tension that was building up in the room.

"I think we should all take a moment to calm ourselves. We just had a pretty intense night and maybe arguing after an adrenaline rush isn't such a good idea."

They both held their stare, neither backing down and they could see the plea in Aika's eyes before they separated in their own corner of the room. Asia still reeling from the events that had transpired followed after Issei and Aika went over to report what had occurred.

"Issei, is it really true? Are you all devils?" She wrung her hands, still scared at the notion before Issei rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"No, I'm not a devil. However, Rias is."

"Oh." A beat of silence with Asia mulling over this nugget of information.

"Aika's not a devil though. But she's something special." He said fondly, looking over at the girl who was chatting away with Rias. Asia couldn't help the ugly feeling surfacing in herself at seeing the bond between the two of them but a thought persisted in her mind of her first friend.

"Did you kill Father Freed?" She asked suddenly, the courage to ask him if he committed the act was in her eyes. The fear of his response and the hesitance of asking such a thing all he gleaned from her eyes. The same eyes that he saw everyday in his younger sister.

"It would've been easy, Asia. Far too easy to kill that despicable man. But I didn't kill him although he'll be waking up with the biggest headache of his life." She let out a sigh of relief and Issei noted that her capacity to care still extended to those who didn't deserve it. It was what drew him to her in the first place. The innocence, the purity and he couldn't stand to see such a thing be snuffed out by the world.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. The contractor that I told you to investigate is dead, there is a stray exorcist that tried to kill you two and there is a possibility which I have to take as a certainty that there is a whole group of them in league with the Fallen Angels which Issei rescued a nun from and brought her here? Am I missing anything?" Rias pinched the bridge of her nose while Aika shrugged her shoulders.

"If it helps, Asia doesn't seem to be the type to hurt anyone."

"That still raises the issue. Maybe she doesn't want to hurt us but what about the people she's affiliated with? We got targets painted on our backs now, this could spark another war."

"Issei won't let that happen."

"How can you guarantee that? The safety of all these people in this town and my peerage."

"Because I believe in him, Buchou." She stressed the last word and Rias was taken aback by the conviction and sudden formality with her that she realised that Aika would always have Issei's back first and foremost. She prided their friendship over anything else which was nothing if not admirable in Rias' eyes but unfortunately her belief in Issei was shaken.

"I thought I could believe in him too." She said quietly to herself but Aika caught the whisper.

"Just...just give them a chance to explain themselves." Aika wanted nothing more for both of them to get along but life wasn't fair or easy. It was complicated and a lot of work would have to be put in to solve this situation.

After Issei and Asia were done with the conversation, they both waited for Aika and Rias who eyed Issei uneasily but gave a small nod.

"Issei, I won't pretend that you bringing in an enemy in my territory will be swept over quickly but-!" Rias spoke quickly to silence Issei who was ready to protest her words. "I am willing to hear what you have to say."

"Thank you. Asia is an excommunicated nun who's been sent here on a mission to redeem herself but for whatever reason, the rogue group of Fallen in town managed to get her to come to their base."

"I was lost and didn't know where to find the church when I met Issei." The diminutive nun spoke up and she played with the hem of her habit, her eyes focused on the floor. "He helped me when I needed it. I didn't have friends when I grew up and when the church banished me, I didn't know what to do. I was so alone and when I received a letter that told me to come here, it said I could redeem myself in the eyes of God, I took it."

Rias' eyes softened seeing the desperation and the sense of loss that she suffered when everything she had known was taken away. Even she as a Devil couldn't help but feel pity for someone whose life purpose was stripped away from them.

There was a moment of silence, everyone waiting for Rias' answer.

"Very well, we'll take no action against you Asia. However, I can't do anything to help you either as this could shatter the tentative peace that the three sides have upheld.

"More like ceasefire." He said bitterly.

"Regardless, I'm afraid my hands are tied in this case but rest assured, under Issei's protection, no harm will come to you."

"Thank you, Rias-san." Asia bowed and clasped her hands immediately. "Oh Lord, please thank the kind souls before me for aiding me in this time of strife."

Rias had to suppress a wince at the sharp migraine that spiked in her head at Asia's prayer. "Yes, your thanks is appreciated however please don't pray in our presence, it's not the most comfortable feeling in the world."

Asia was flustered at her remark and mumbled an apology. Issei clapped his hands together, a magical circle appearing beneath their feet and they were gone. The room now with only one occupant and that was the young heiress with a severe migraine.

"Sona was right. Anything involving Issei would turn out to be a massive headache."

* * *

"Olivia-chan, meet Asia Argento. Asia Aregento, this is my little sister, Olivia." The small girl stared up in amazement at Asia who in turn found the little girl to be adorable.

"Wow, does this mean Asia's going to be my new sister?" She said innocently, not knowing the entire implication of such a statement and Asia blushed bright red with Raynare laughing loudly on her couch. After Asia and Raynare met, it was awkward to say the least for both of them as Issei had honestly forgotten that he was housing the busty Fallen Angel. He could hear Aika berating him for missing such a detail. 'How could you forget someone who is literally sleeping on your couch.'

"Nii-san! Nii-san! Can we eat Ramen today?" The little brunette girl shifted her attention to food with wide eyes that tugged at Issei's heartstrings. Issei hoped that she didn't bring on the waterworks.

"Sure, Olivia-chan but first did you a learn a lot at school today?" He started preparing to the dinner for all of the people in his apartment by tying on a pink frilly apron that read 'Please, do nothing to the cook'.

"We learnt how to count 10."

"Really now? Can you count to 10 for me?"

"Ichi, Ni, San, err..Yon, Go," Olivia screwed up her face in concentration as she tried to count forward. "R-roku, Hachi, Nana, Kyuu, auuu!

"7 comes before 8, Olivia." Issei said in amusement. Olivia flushed in embarrassment seeing that she messed up in front of her brother. Issei knelt down and patted her on the head. "Olivia, you're doing great and if you keep this up, you'll be counting up to 100 in no time."

Olivia gave him a toothy smile and her customary hug as she went on to colour in her book, writing out the numbers as she dutifully recited them.

"Um, Issei-san, I didn't mean for you to get hurt because of me." Asia said shyly, trying to make herself appear smaller but he offered her his kind smile. The smile that made her heart beat and her body warm. The people who thanked and praise her would smile at her but it didn't spark the same feeling like Issei did. The promise of safety and pride in her ability.

"Don't blame yourself, Asia. I look out for my friends and I can't let anything bad happen to you." He said, chopping up the ginger as he did so.

"Oh, um Issei?"

"Hmm?"

"What's ramen?"

Let it be known that Asia was treated to the tastiest dish of noodle soup in all her life and if asked what her favourite food was, she would fervently reply with 'Issei's Miso Ramen'.

* * *

"Again." Raynare groaned in frustration before materialising a light sword in her hand and she faced Issei again who was unarmed but was dressed in a shirt and sweatpants.

She brushed forward, she was a grey streak flying forward as she thrust the sword towards him, he backhanded the blade before the tip could ever touch his torso. Raynare growled at seeing the attack being shrugged off so casually and she plunged her sword down to his foot but he pulled back. She wasn't deterred and she formed a dagger in her hand, slashing it at his neck before he turned his head and caught the blade between his teeth. Raynare stared in incredulity at the feat but reality was a huge bitch slap. Literally as Issei slapped her and she tumbled away from him, her weapons dispersing.

"You're getting better. You lasted a total of seven seconds."

"So what? I lasted 2 seconds longer."

"Doesn't matter, you still improved whether it's by an inch or a mile, improvement is improvement."

"I don't feel any stronger or faster."

"Oh, I just kept getting stronger and faster at the same time too."

"Asshole!" She flung herself forward, gathering the light energy and condensing it into a spear. She didn't bother throwing it herself as she did everything in her power to stab the infuriating man in front of her. Issei lazily dodged and even had the gall to yawn at her. Her anger peaked as an aura of energy surrounded her and she felt pain behind her back which Issei's eyes widened at but she didn't care as she formed a spear the size of a tree and watched as it flew forward towards Issei. He blinked before vanishing in a burst of speed and watched as the spear crashed into a boulder before it exploded spectacularly, raining the area in a shower of pebbles.

Raynare panted, exhaustion hitting her but she felt invigorated for some reason. She looked up to see Issei, clapping his hands and a smile bloomed on his face. She was confused, he was happy at her outburst?

"It looks like you gained another pair of wings, Raynare-chan." She was stunned at his words before she reached around her back, feeling feathers. She was elated at gaining more power, she hadn't had to push herself to become stronger before but his training. When it felt like she wasn't getting any better he was in actuality keep the gap between them so she could grow faster. She didn't notice it before but her eyes could track his movement now. She clenched her fists tightly, feeling the power thrum in her body. The power that she wanted to attain so desperately. For Azazel. But now...

"That's enough training for you today. Get some rest." Raynare nodded hesitantly before moving to the door that stood out strangely in the barren area.

Issei walked over to Tamamo who sipped her tea as she observed Aika go through the training obstacle that she set. Aika weaved through the bolts of lightning that shot at her whilst keeping her feet away from the jagged spikes of earth as she used her wings to remain afloat.

"How long has she been up there?"

"An hour."

"Impressive."

"How long could she stay afloat for when we started?"

"10 minutes."

"Alright, let's stop it now." Tamamo nodded and she stomped her foot on the ground, the spikes covered over and the bolts of lightning cut short as Aika flapped her leather wings down, smiling impishly before take a step forward and falling flat on her face. Issei inched closer to see that she had passed out and was blissfully asleep.

"Guess she's out for today as well." Issei lifted her up bridal style and she buried her head closer to his chest. Issei mechanically turned his head over to Tamamo, whose shoulders was shaking in mirth.

"Not a word to Raynare or Reiko." He said flatly.

"No promises." Tamamo giggled behind the sleeve of her kimono. Issei shook his head before they both headed towards the door with Issei looking out to the island in the lake at the sword embedded there, calling for him but that promise could wait.

* * *

It should be said that there was something mystifying about watching an excommunicated teenage nun try to order fast food for the first time in her life. Even the people around her were at a loss on what to do as they continued to stare at her in bemusement. It didn't help that she knew a little Japanese to effectively communicate what she wanted to order which Issei found to be a cute part of her. Fortunately, Issei was there to the rescue and promptly told the employee at the register that she would be having the same thing as him.

They sat around a table, Asia on one side, Issei on the other and right next to him was Raynare who seemed to eye the food they were eating with disgust.

"You sure, you're not hungry. Ray-chan?" Issei smirked, popping the french fry in his mouth. Oh, he was getting a kick out of this.

"Ice-cream and treats are okay, but oily fast-foods are not. I treat my body like a temple very much. How do you think my boobs got like this?" She said, by showing that despite the nice sweater she was wearing her breasts were straining against the fabric.

"Suit yourself." At that moment, Raynare's stomach decided that food was necessarily right about now.

 _GRUUUUUU!_

Raynare's face heated up as she turned her head away proudly, arms crossed underneath her bust.

Asia was looking at the hamburger in amazement and confusion as if she was trying to decipher the Da Vinci Code if she stared hard enough. Was it really that hard to pick up food and eat it?

"Here, you eat it like this by taking the wrap off, Princess." Isse said to her in fluent italian to which Raynare was quite surprised at, unwrapping it for her. She took a small bite of her burger and to the duo sitting opposite of her, they had never seen someone's face light up as much as Asia when she tried a hamburger for the first time.

"This is delicious! Amazing, I never knew it would be so tasty." Issei watched her with a raised brow as she continued to devour the food.

"You never ate a burger before?"

"No. I've seen it on television, but it's my first time eating it."

"So what do you normally eat then?"

"Mainly bread and soup. I also eat vegetable and pasta food."

"I'll have to try and make some Italian food again when we get home, it's been awhile since I've had some." It was odd as he looked down to see half his fries were missing and Raynare was trying her best to look as innocent as possible.

"Treat your body like a temple, huh?"

"Shut up."

"Let's go have some fun, then. Have you ever been to an arcade?"

* * *

"Challenger, get ready!" Issei took off, flooring it when his foot hit the accelerator, flying past the two cars.

"Wah! So fast!" Raynare wasn't as amazed as Asia when it came to Issei's driving abilities when she had already experienced it for herself. Even though she had wings and could fly, going through a stunt with Issei was enough for her.

"The new legendary downhill racer, Ise!" Issei looked almost bored with the whole game but it impressed Asia quite a bit if her starry eyes were any indication.

"So where do you want to go next?"

"How about that one?" She pointed towards a crane game and Issei, having come off with a high from beating the racing game was confident that this would be a breeze for him.

"Anything you want?"

"Well...i-it's nothing." She tried to hide but following her line of sight, he spotted the a doll of 'Rache-kun'. A cute mouse mascot that Issei was sure that he got for Olivia as well.

"Asia, do you like 'Rache-kun'?"

"E-eh? N-no, t-that is..." Asia's face turns beet red and she nods shyly.

"I'm gonna get for you then."

"Eh? But..."

"Watch closely, Asia. I got this." The coin was in the slot and the crane moving in position to get the doll mouse. The first try, Issei missed the doll and on his second he managed to snag a leg but remained unsuccessful.

"Ooh, impressive. Your skills are unmatched." The sarcasm was not appreciated by Issei.

On his third and fourth try, he almost made the doll move a bit further but it decided to stay in its spot.

"You beat a downhill racing game and made the new high score but you can't get a toy out of a crane machine."

"Oi, the machine malfunctioned or something."

Issei fished around for his last coin while Asia remained hopeful. Issei handed the coin over to Raynare who blinked in surprise.

"You're giving me a shot?"

"You can't do any worse than me." Taking the coin, she put it in the slot and moved the crane above the toy with almost mocking ease, the doll mouse was lifted by the crane and over to the dispenser where Raynare fished it out and held it in front of Issei.

"Good to know that I own your ass in one thing." Issei crouched in the corner with a gloomy air as he rubbed circles on the floor.

"It's not fair, she did it so easily."

"Here." Raynare held out the doll to Asia, tentatively taking the doll and holding it close to her chest.

"Thank you, Raynare-san." Raynare heard the sincerity in her words and was taken aback.

"It's nothing, I couldn't watch Issei disappoint you."

"It's so nice that you care." He said teasingly before Raynare grit her teeth and muttered 'shut the fuck up', the words promising a slow and very painful death.

"Come on, there's other games that I can kick Issei's ass in."

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

"It's not gonna be much of a challenge when I beat you in...Dance Dance Revolution?"

* * *

"My feet hurts so much." Raynare rubbed at her sore feet on the park bench, Asia was seated on the other side with Issei sandwiched between them.

"Careful now, those are the words of someone getting on in their years." Issei dodged the swat from Raynare's hand as she squawked indignantly about being called old.

"Protect me, kind Asia." He held Asia in front of him protectively while Raynare glared daggers at him.

"Ah Raynare-sama, please don't hurt Issei!" Asia pleaded, her eyes wide and her face was in a sullen expression. Raynare recoiled from her, and felt supreme guilt as if she had kicked a puppy.

"Fine, I won't hurt him...yet." Issei took this as a cue to place Asia back down on the seat.

Issei mused to himself that he was enjoying Raynare and Asia's company, it lifted his spirits to see them smiling and be normal people for once. A luxury that they were getting used to. He once had a taste of normalcy when he was young before he was thrust into that world.

"Urgh, my feet still hurts and my arm feels like it's going to fall off." She winced remembering that particular training session, it was one of her better tries in lasting against Issei but in turn he spin-kicked her and the bruises were still there.

"Ah, Raynare-sama, can you please lift up your sleeve?"

"Sure." She lifted up her sleeve to show the black and blue bruises on her arm. Asia placed her palm over the bruise and a warm gentle green light covers her arm. The same light that is reflected in Asia's eyes and the radiant kindness she projects to everyone. Before their very eyes, the bruises transition from purple to green to yellow and finally unblemished healthy skin.

Raynare flexed her arm marvelling at how there was no pain anymore. The power that was in Asia's hands, the power to heal wounds and injuries in seconds. A power that she would try to extract from her. To gain recognition from Azazel.

But with Issei, she wanted to be better. To drive herself forward. To work for her strength. Once she would have had no qualms to doing anything to get stronger but now the idea of stealing someone else's power made her feel dirty inside.

"That's amazing, Asia. That power you have is incredible. That's a Sacred Gear, right?"

"Yes, it is."

"You know, I once had a Sacred Gear." Asia was shocked to learn about it and Raynare was intrigued about Issei's Sacred Gear, she wondered why they could sense a dormant Sacred Gear inside him but Issei was adamant that he didn't have one.

"But it doesn't matter now, your power is amazing. You can heal anyone, animals, humans, angels and devils right?"

She stilled at the mention of devils, there was no longer shock on her face but sadness and a tear drop flowed out of her eyes. The dam broke and she began sobbing.

"Do you know the story of the 'Holy Maiden'?" And Asia began to tell them everything, how she was left orphaned on the steps of a church. How she became a devout member of the church, her powers received at the age of 8. She had healed a stray wounded puppy and a clergymen from the Catholic Church had witnessed it.

Her life changed, she was taken by the main Catholic Church and she was became the 'Holy Maiden' because of her healing power.

Many believers of the church came to her to be healed and she was often told that she was gifted with divine protection. They put her on a pedestal, to be praised, to be appreciated but never did they come close to her. To know her.

Everything changed though, there was a wounded devil and her heart couldn't ignore anyone that was hurt. And so she healed him. But someone had seen her and told everyone of the event. They were shocked, aghast and in disbelief of their 'Holy Maiden'. Soon after the denial came was the anger, the rage and the fury of the Church as they shunned and ostracised her.

'Cast her out!'

'Damn the heretic!'

'A witch can only heal devils!'

The 'Holy Maiden' fell from grace and she was branded as a 'Witch' and she was abandoned. She begged, she pleaded for forgiveness only to be met with silence. She prayed to God to save her. And God never answered.

No one cared about her.

She was picked up by the organisation of 'Stray Exorcists' and where she fell into a depression. What was the point in living? She devoted her life, her power, everything that she had for God. She was worthless.

"I-I'm so clumsy. I didn't pray enough, I can't even eat a burger without help. I'm not worth-" Issei pulled her into a hug immediately and she sobbed into his chest, the tears leaking into his shirt.

"You are the most wonderful person, Asia. You're kind, you're brave and you are not alone. I'll be your friend and Raynare will be your friend too." Raynare nodded sadly, patting the girl on the head as she had never felt this emotional since the death of her mother. "We'll protect you. We promise."

"Thank you, Issei-san, Raynare-sama. But I-I don't know what to believe in anymore."

"I was once in your place, Asia. I was betrayed by those I trusted. I was left alone and forgotten with my convictions shattered. It was the darkest period of my life." Issei was solemn, his eyes meeting hers and she understood his pain so well.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I met a man who saved me. Even when I had nothing, he still believed that I could be better. I could build myself to be stronger. And I believe you can too."

"How very touching." Issei was on guard instantly, standing in front of Asia taking the hilt of the holy sword from Freed.

"Did you forget my warning last time?" Issei growled, seeing the man who almost killed one of his friends in front of him.

"Oh no, I didn't forget but this time I came prepared for someone as unpredictable as you." He was joined by a group of exorcists clad in armour and at the front was Freed, who looked as deranged as ever.

"Hello, shitty-kun. Ah, I see that our bitch of a leader has betrayed us. What was it? Did he fuck you senseless to turning over to his side."

"Why are you here?"

"To get back that girl and our leader, Raynare. Unless she's betrayed us then we'll have no use for her. Don't run, Asia." He unfurled three pairs of black wings and he could sense the power emanating from him. It felt artificial. It felt like her!

"Like hell I wou-" Issei doubled over and fell to his knees, hacking up blood. He breathed heavily and looked down at his hands.

"Oh, how fortunate. You seem to be dying right now." Dohnaseek's smile turned into a vicious grin. Raynare walked forward, her expression turning malevolent. Asia gasped at her betrayal, she knew that Raynare was the leader but...she had dared to hope.

"Did you forget my skills as an assassin?" She walked up to Freed and grabbed him by the neck, pouring her strength into choking him. "If you ever utter any word or spread rumours of betrayal, I will show you why you should fear me!"

"Issei!" Asia was immediately by his side, her Sacred Gear activated on his chest. He began to cough up more blood in response and she became frantic trying to help him.

"Leave him alone! There's no point in healing a dead man." Dohnaseek walked forward, kicking him in the chin. "How's this for a warning, brat."

"No, stop please, don't hurt him." Asia stood over Issei protectively, her arms spread to shield Issei.

"If you don't come with us then I'll end his life right here and now." She fearfully walked forward to Raynare, her body trembling and shaking before she turned back to Issei. Issei struggled to keep his eyes open, to keep them fixed on her smile for him.

"Goodbye."

He couldn't hate himself more for being so powerless.

* * *

 **What are your thoughts? Follow, favourite and review. Thanks for reading! Ja Ne!**


	6. In the Shadow of Death

**Beyond Infinite Dreams**

 **Beta:** orlha

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: In the Shadow of Death**

* * *

"No." One simple word, a denial to Issei's request to save Asia.

"Rias, I'm going. Whether you say yes or no."

Rias raised a brow at him. The state, in which Issei had arrived in, did not inspire confidence. Hell, he could barely stand if it wasn't for the kitsune woman helping him to the sofa chair.

"I can't let you do that. There are too many risks involved. I won't let you walk off on a pointless suicidal quest."

Issei glowered. His hands squeezed the armrests of the sofa chair. From the corner of Rias' eye, Koneko flinched. Issei's hands curled into fists, there was a sharp intake of breath from behind Rias.

Issei shot up to his feet,ready to tear into her. Instead he grimaced, grasping his chest. Rias watched the kitsune woman rush to his side, pushing him back down on the chair. The woman, now that she had looked at her closely, was familiar. Her eyes widened when she recognised her. This woman was the school's nurse. She had a youkai in the school right under her nose. She felt foolish for not seeing it sooner.

Tamamo's gaze penetrated through the heat that Issei was ready to expel, he instead muttered. "I'll be fine."

"Look, you are risking a full blown war between the Devils and Fallen Angels to save _one_ person. Even your association with us could be what triggers it. I don't know if you know this, but we're not exactly friendly with the Fallen. If we show _one_ sign of hesitation, _one_ sign of weakness, they will come and kill us." Rias punctuated her point with each poke to the chest.

The clock's ticks filled the room. Gone was the peace of the room. Standing behind the couch, Koneko shuffled and fidgeted on the spot. Her shoes brushed roughly against the carpet. In the other room, the kettle whistled and shrieked. The noise pierced the silence yet nobody moved. Rias gave Akeno a small nod before the vice-president walked off to get the tea. Silence returned once the shrieks died.

Issei's curled fists relaxed as he placed his hands on the armrests. He opens his eyes to Rias.

There is a strange tranquility in them that baffled Rias. Did he finally see her point? Had she managed to convince him?

"Tell me," He drew his eyes back to her face. His words were slow and deliberate as his fingers twitched and shook. Rias could feel Issei's attention weighing down on her. "When you saw Asia yesterday, did you see an enemy of the Devils?"

He stood up from the chair, towering over Rias. "Did you see someone who willingly allied themselves with the Fallen? That she was standing on the other side of this conflict because she _wanted_ to or because she _needed_ to?"

Taken aback by his words, Rias was reminded of their earlier meeting - of his accusations. It still stung now. But Issei had forgiven her, made a promise to help her in anyway that he could. It hurt to know that _this_ girl had managed to gain his friendship and trust so quickly while she was still trying so hard to bridge something more than professional courtesy.

"What I saw was a desperate young girl who lost everything in her life. She took a chance for redemption so quickly that she didn't question why she was going to Japan," Issei said.

How could she refute anything that he said? It would make her seem heartless, unreasonable to her peerage. So she deigned not to say anything at all, as silence appeared to be the wiser course of action.

"She held onto our friendship like a lifeline, and you think that someone like Asia isn't worth saving?"

Everyone in the room shrank at his words. Some looked down and couldn't meet his eyes while others clenched their fists whether or not out of anger or frustration.

"I didn't say that," she protested.

"Of course not," he said with a sardonic smile that told her that he clearly didn't believe her. Tamamo stood beside Issei on the circle.

"I'm going to save Asia," he told her. Then Issei brought his palm forward, grasping Tamamo's hand. The Gremory circle lit up violet as it took them both away.

* * *

"So what you're saying is that," Aika paused, taking a second to come to terms with what was on her mind. "We are going to storm a church filled with loads of priests. All of them are wielding 'holy swords''. And there are people who can make more weapons of light that are capable of burning us. In particular, _me_ , into dust. Did I miss anything?" Aika said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"No, you summed it up quite well." Issei chuckled.

"Good, no, this is _fantastic_." Aika's words were topped off with a sweet smile. Murayama was seated beside her wide-eyed at being dumped with this information.

"Murayama, I know I'm asking a lot for you to come with me but-"

Murayama raised a hand and Isseu let her speak her piece. He owed her that much. "Issei, you saved my life and this guy we're going after is going to be there?"

"Of course."

"Hell yeah, I'm in."

Issei blinked in surprise, not expecting her to be the vengeful type but then again she did beat the Perverted Duo on a daily basis.

Aika sniffed the air around them and shouted in the direction of a faraway bush. "You can come out, you two, I can smell the both of you from here."All three watched two figures emerge from behind a tree.

"Guess you caught us, huh?" Kiba inclined his head forward gracefully despite being embarrassed at having been found.

"Hmm, I don't know whether I should punish you here and now for spying on us." Aika stalked forward towards Kiba, a wide grin on her face. "Wouldn't that be a pleasure, for me to _punish_ the _prince_?"

"Down, Aika. Very bad." Issei drawled. Aika's gaze lingered on Kiba for a second longer, who shrunk on the spot uncomfortably at being under Aika's lustful gaze. The thought bothered Issei more than it should.

"I've had my fun. Hello, Koneko."

Koneko moved to cover herself as though afraid Aika was going to molest her again.

"Alright, enough, why are you here?" Issei crossed his arms and turned his attention to Kiba. He had a few ideas on why they were both here, he discounted going on a leisurely stroll in the park as one of them.

"I'm going with you."

Issei blinked once then twice. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm going with you. I don't know Asia that well, but there's a part of me that respects your decision to go save her."

Issei found himself respecting Kiba even more and thought that maybe there was more to the Prince than he had thought. However, he was still Issei and he didn't take things at face value anymore. "Any other reason that you're going?"

"I'm not a big fan of Fallen Angels and priests." The bittersweet smile on Kiba wasn't something that he saw on him at all, usually he was this upbeat person who was all smiles.

"Fair enough." Issei shrugged to himself, everyone had a dark side. It was a matter of time until he saw Kiba's.

"...Senpai, I'm coming with you." Koneko's words, while they were normally emotionless and cold, were earnest and filled with determination. "...I can't let senpai do something dangerous alone. I want to pay you back, when those bullies..."

"Thank you." He bowed his head gratefully to her not noticing the small amount of heat that crept up to her cheeks when he did so.

"By the way, where's Raynare?"

* * *

Raynare tapped her finger on her arm when saw two other people come down the stairs with their captive in tow. One of them was short with blonde hair tied into twin-tails and a frilly gothic lolita outfit. The other woman was taller with a buxom figure and long wavy blue hair that covered her eye with a violet trench coat that had a wide collar showing ample cleavage and a miniskirt.

"Hey, Raynare! It's good to have you back. Everything was boring when you were gone, Kalawarner was _such_ a buzzkill around here." The girl in the gothic lolita outfit said, skipping towards her and the bluenette clicked her teeth in annoyance.

"Good to see you both. Mittelt, Kalawarner." Raynare said, inclining her head to both of them. "Then I can take control of the group and begin on the ritual tonight.". She stood in front of a wooden cross. It was cracked and strung up by steel wires but it would do for what they planned for tonight.

"Raynare, you're not in charge anymore."

She stilled at those words, her mind not fully comprehending what her friend had just said. Mittelt was looking at a curtain of black hair for one second and the next, Raynare's snarling face was pressed up against hers.

"What are you talking about? Of course, I'm in charge. I'm the one who put this goddamn operation together." Raynare spat. A roiling wave almost boiled over inside her and she demanded an explanation.

Mittelt backed up, hands out to placate but it was futile. "We know that... but Dohnaseek, he… has six wings." Mittelt said. Raynare kicked the pews and the seat smashed against the wall into tiny wooden fragments.

Asia backed away from Raynare, afraid of what she would do if she set her sights on her but Kalawarner's hand kept her in place and her stomach sunk as a burning feeling settled there.

"Yeah." said Mittelt.

"He can't do _this,_ " she raged and hurled another bench over her shoulder, meeting its unfortunate end in a shower of splinters. Everything that she had worked for. All the things that she done to get up to this point. She wasn't going to let it be for nothing. She wasn't going to let some upstart take over not when she was so close. She didn't want _him_ to be right.

Mittelt stepped forward towards her and reached out to touch her shoulder. "Raynare, we tried hard to argue that-"

"What the fuck does he think he's doing?!" Raynare roared. "I'm not letting him get away with this." She crossed the basement, her heels cracking heavily on the stone steps and she ascended to meet her usurper.

"Where are you going?" Kalawarner kept up her pace with Raynare's stomps and Kalawarner reached out to grab her arm.

"I'm not letting him steal my power." Raynare shook Kalawarner's efforts away and stalked forward to a set of double doors.

"Ray, stop-" Kalawarner's voice was distant to Raynare, an echo that was drowned out by the fury that washed over her when she saw him.

"Aren't you supposed to be preparing for the ritual?" Dohnaseek stood there, his wings proudly displayed for everyone to see. There was a smugness to him, an arrogance that was propelled higher by his increase in power which she ignored all that.

"I want what's mine." Raynare said, with an edge to her voice.

"Is that so?" Dohnaseek stepped forward in front of her, his visage was no longer smug but held a menacing smile. "You lost that right when you were captured."

She bristled at his remark. "And I earned that right when I killed him."

He chuckled to himself, and Raynare's annoyance and hatred for the man rise. "And while you were away, I gained more power than you could possibly dream of." He flexed his wings once more for a show of power. She hate to admit that he was more powerful. She also didn't survive this long without being resourceful. Already there were plans to-

"I'm beginning to wonder if what Freed said was actually true, did he somehow manage to beguile you to turn traitor?"

"I worked too hard to fuck it up in the end." She said, with sudden heat. He was uncomfortably close to her, his breath on her neck that did nothing but bring up memories of disgust and self-loathing.

"But isn't that why you _fell?_ Because of lust?" He whispered in her ear, his fingers tugging at the straps to her outfit. She felt bile rise at the back of her throat before he pulled back.

"I am the one in control now, so be a good girl and prepare the ritual." Dohnaseek walked out from the room, leaving Raynare and Kalawarner alone.

She couldn't stop her shoulders from shaking, the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes as all her work was gone. And she realised with startling clarity, why _he_ had let her go.

"Ray..." Kalawarner reached out and brought her into a hug, Raynare could only chuckle at her naivete, her arrogance that led her to her betrayal. She had given up her chance for something that was worth it in her godforsaken life all for power.

"He was right."

* * *

"Why are _we_ the ones going around the back?" Murayama commented dryly, twirling her bamboo sword behind her.

"Because, Issei is an ass and they always have someone guarding the back." Aika's statement was proven correct when they were stopped by a hail of spears that pierced the ground in front of them. Aika hated it when Issei was right.

Two fallen angels hovered above Aika and Murayama like sentinels of the sky. They clutched their spears ready to defend themselves.

"Alright, what do we do now? Cause' they've got spears that can disintegrate anything it touches and I've got a _wooden_ sword." She emphasised that by smacking her shinai against the tree.

"Aww, what's the matter? Is the little bat and the baby scared?" Mittelt said. She leaned towards them, her lips puckered in a sneer before cackling to herself.

"Well, Issei gave me this." Aika pulled something long and metallic out of her pocket. She poked her head out from behind the tree. A thunderous bang.

The lolita screamed. She fired two more shots. The lolita's wailing got louder followed by a body crashing.

"You can whack her with your stick now." Murayama nodded her head with a gaping mouth. Aika's face hardened into a cool mask, horns curled on top of her head and her fangs jutted from her lips. With a flap of her leathery wings she took to the skies to battle with the bluenette angel.

* * *

Issei, Koneko and Kiba walked up to the front of the church, noticing a small contingent of guards and some Fallen Angels. Issei didn't underestimate that the heavy steel armour had runes engraved to protect them and he could gauge that the Fallen Angels, while tedious to fight, would eat up time.

"Koneko, Kiba, can you handle them while I go on ahead?" Issei's tone was serious unlike the way it normally was at school but it told them that he had faith and confidence in their abilities.

"You can count on us." Kiba answered with a grin, a black sword forming in his hands before he grasped it.

"...Hai, senpai." She picked up the boulder beside her. The chunk of earth flying through the air crushing steel and bones. Kiba rushed forward, his black sword clashed against one of the guards and they watched it shock as it was being absorbed by Kiba's sword.

Issei ran through the contingent of guards, his objective clear in his mind - save Asia. Nothing else mattered. Not the fallen angels. Not the devils. Only her.

The heavy oak door swung open and the angels tried to follow after him. However, the path was blocked by a tiny schoolgirl wielding a street lamp.

"Your fight is with us." Koneko narrowed her eyes at them.

* * *

Knight Templars. That's who they were, they were trained from birth to have muscles of steel and the strength of a rhino. They were conditioned mentally to handle anything to come at them. The armour they wore were forged to withstand any physical and magical assault the holy swords they were given would smite down their foes. So why did they feel as if the icy hands of death had marked them? This trembling in their hands as they kept their pistols on the door. No, they would not cower, they wouldn't run.

The door opened and in stepped an enemy. An invader. There was no emotion on his face. Issei let out a deep shuddering breath, "leave or die." The teen, no, the Demon let loose it's bloodthirsty aura.

They tightened their grips on their pistols, training it on him. Swallowing hard, as the Demon tilted his head, they did not dare to let this thing even get closer to them. Underneath the overpowering aura of the monster, the templars could feel the dribble of sweat slide down their faces. Their fingers shaking from the ache of wanting to squeeze the triggers, the stench of fear wafted through the battlefield. Then the Demon snapped open its eyes, an eerie grin stretching across its leathery skin.

"I gave you an out." They didn't see the tube in his hand ignite neither did they see how he vanished in front of them.

The head of a templar rolled on the ground before they all fired to where the monster was only to find the bullet-riddled corpse of their comrade. It was too late as he grabbed the arm of his fellow Templar and pointed the gun towards another. An explosion of blood and gore coated them.

What monster were they facing?

It bared its teeth, pushing the templar towards them. Two holes in the knight's chest and his cooling body hit the ground.

Swinging his arm out, the Demon's sword swept forward in an arc, blood sprayed out of another Templar. He held his hands up to his throat, choking, gurgling on his own blood. The Demon leapt forward with a savage roar.

* * *

"You're very skilled for someone who has barely lived to see her prime."

Huh, a compliment from someone who was trying to kill her. A foot dug into her stomach, the wind knocked out of her. Aika's back slammed harshly against the tree.

The light spear pierced bark. Aika cursed, feeling the light spear sear her arm, barely moving away. Fuck, it hurt to run. Actually, her back hurt too. All the flying and dodging sessions were paying off if all she got away with a light cut. Aika weaved through the trees with a hiss as another spear manage to clip her in the leg. She tumbled through the bushes and pressed her back against a tree.

"Come out and face your death, little bat."

Blood red eyes watched the fallen angel snarl in annoyance at the shadows. Good, she'd keep it that way.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to come in here and fight like a vampire."

Aika was buying time at best. Her mind scrabbling to find a way to take the Kalawarner down. The fallen angel could fly, and she was really accurate with a spear. Aika picked a rock, tossing it up and down in her hand. So she had to take both out of the equation. She ducked out from the tree, pulled her arm back and let the stone fly. The rock sped closer and closer until...it struck! She dug her heels in the ground and ran. The fallen angel was still blinded by the rock when Aika reached the side of the church. Scaling the church, Aika kept her speed and vaulted over the rooftop. The fallen angel sensed danger behind and saw Aika flip through the air. Particles of light were halfway formed into the shaft of a spear. The light spear had no chance the moment Aika's foot touched it.

"Surprise, bitch." She snarled, the axe-kick sent Kalawarner plummeting. The fallen angel cratered the ground with a crack. Her wings bent at an awkward angle when she tried to sit up. Two bullets pierced right through the woman's shoulder and she screamed in agony. Good, she's wounded and she can't fly.

Aika crashed down with her knee in the fallen angel's gut. Kalawarner coughed off blood, flecks of it landing on Aika's face. Aika cocked her fist back and was surprised when instead of cracking bone, it touched earth. Damn it, this bitch didn't wanna stay down. Aika's nails sharpened. Feinting with a punch, Aika stuck her fingers into the woman's wounded shoulder, a sharp cry before Aika was kicked away. She tumbled into a roll and her back crashed the wall.

Aika groaned, wincing when she moved her back. She turned around to see blood on the wall behind her. Bits of her flesh was torn from that last kick. Goddamn, did it feel like she had been put through a meat grinder. And the fallen angel was pushing herself up, her face caked with blood and grime. Worst was the woman's scowl.

"Are you kidding me? Why won't you stay down!?"

"Not until you're dead-" Aika's breath cut off when the fallen's forearm slammed against her throat.

"This is payback for shooting me in the shoulder. No hard feelings?" The fallen angel smiled.

"What are you-" The bitch stabbed her in the fucking leg. Smelling her own flesh being cooked from the inside, Aika clawed, punched to get her away from her. Anything to stop the burning.

Aika bit down on Kalawarner's arm, fangs chomping through flesh. And she could taste it. Blood rushing down her throat before she was backhanded away.

Aika swiped her tongue across her lips, savouring the taste. The woman tried to put a mask of cool indifference but her nose hadn't let her down. She could smell it.

She ripped the spear out her leg, crushing it in her hand. The fallen angel's eyes widened. The sweet smell of fear.

"There won't be any hard feelings at all."

* * *

"Look at that, she's letting the bloodlust get to her." A man spoke, his harsh, croaky voice grated on the other's nerves.

"What would you expect from the half-breed?" The man said. His own voice was cultured and honeyed but that didn't stop his lips curling into a scowl.

"Letting that bird stab her was disgraceful. Her tactics were poorly formed. No grace or poise, just brute power. Why would master even consider her a worthy successor?"

"I do not question his orders, Orpheus. You should know better."

"Tch, and what do you suggest we do then, Lucan?"

"Like master ordered. If she proves unworthy-"

"-When she proves unworthy."

"Then we kill her. If she isn't, we bring her back to master."

* * *

Murayama panted, swinging her shinai overhead but it struck dirt. She rolled away in time, holding her sword up in front of her defensively. The lolita girl staggered forward with a deranged grin on her lips.

"Oh, you've done it. I was going to kill you quickly but now I'm going to enjoy watching you suffer." Mittelt leaped forward, her spear stabbing towards her.

Mittelt came down with a vicious swing. The light spear cuts down the tree behind Murayama. All Murayama can do is parry and deflect the girl's stabs and slashes. Each swing of her spear is followed by laughter. There are too many close calls. Mittelt's spear grazes Murayama's cheeks, it cuts through her uniform. Blood seeped from her wounds and coloured her uniform red. Murayama knew that her opponent was toying with her. She had to take advantage of that.

Murayama had to clear her mind, calm herself, slow her breaths. There was nothing but her and the asshole who almost killed her. The person in front of her was an obstacle, one she would overcome. There was a thrum, a sensation that filled her entire being. It felt like electricity was rushing up and down her arms.

"If you're going to stand there and do nothing, then do me a favour and die." Mittelt rushed forward, the tip of her spear thrusting towards Murayama's heart. To her surprise, she hit nothing and doubled over gasping as what seemed liked an iron rod had folded her in half and she collapsed.

Mittelt looked up to see the girl she had been fighting was holding her shinai outstretched. The wood had snapped and splintered and what was left was the handle in her hands. Mittelt hobbled over and savoured the fear in her eyes. She was tougher than some snot-nosed brat who got a lucky shot in.

"Mind if I cut in?" Mittelt turned and cursed at seeing the newcomer. Lightning sparked and danced between her fingertips as she stepped into the moonlight.

* * *

Tamamo observed the ongoing battles from the treeline. Her eyes tracked the movements of her...students. No, subordinates. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped from her lips when Aika shot the little angel from the sky. There was a cunning mind in Aika. A little rough around the edges but she would polish that soon enough.

On the other hand, Murayama was outmatched. She was a normal human, she didn't have the strength and speed of a vampire or the hellish training that Issei went through. But she had spirit. Determination. Discipline. Patience.

A vibration in her pocket and Tamamo felt a sliver of her energy drain away. The girl charged forward, shattering her shinai with that last blow. Hmm, it wasn't enough. Ah, Akeno was stepping in now.

Her ears perked up when she sensed a build-up of magic in the church.

* * *

He crashed down on the floor in a blazing spectacle. The smoke cleared and there she was. Asia hung on the opposite end of the room, her limp body attached to the mockery of the cross.

"Welcome, I couldn't wait for your tearful reunion but I got impatient." Issei's neither twitched or moved at his remark, his eyes lingering on Asia.

Raynare watched Issei from the side, a chill crept up on her. The boy standing before her was nowhere to be found. Someone else took his place. Somebody was in Issei's skin. That thought terrified her when she looked into his eyes. Cold. Emotionless. Furious.

"It's too late, boy. The ritual is done and you were too late. You came here for nothing." The fallen angel, Dohnaseek, lifted the light in his hand. "Ah, now I have the power of a Sacred Gear. I have stolen God's gift from humanity. _Nothing_ can kill me!"

The light floated from his hand, entering his body that filled the entire room with a light that did not comfort Raynare only a dread of the monster that was coming. It blinded them for a few tense seconds, dying as fast to reveal Dohnaseek. Black wings stretched taut from his back and they flapped once, a burst of power that shook the foundations of the church. A green light emanated from his body. A light that was stolen from Asia. An arrogant smirk that turned into a full-blown laughter.

"Shut up." Issei whispered. The cold fury burned in him when Issei heard him laugh. She was dead because of him.

Dohnaseek continued to laugh, immersed in his own success. The corners of his lips stretched from ear to ear as he reveled in it.

"Shut up!" The words cut across the room. Issei stared at him, a deadly gleam growing behind his amber eyes.

Dohnaseek's raucous laughter stopped. The man's eyes glare narrowed at Issei.

"Raynare. If you want to redeem yourself, kill him and make sure he stays dead otherwise your life is forfeit."

Raynare cringed at the threat and moved robotically, keeping her head bowed. Light coalescing in her hands to form a spear, resting the tip against Issei's heart. One thrust forward and he would be dead. One simple movement. Yet she _couldn't_.

"What are you waiting for? Kill him." The usurper demanded, his voice twinged with impatience.

"Look at me." Raynare stared resolutely at the ground. Praying to the God that had abandoned her, praying that Issei didn't notice how her hands shook, how tears fell from a broken promise, or how pathetic she was.

"Look at me, please," his voice was soft and gentle, pleading her and she wanted to refuse, but she raised her eyes to meet his amber eyes. His hands wrapped around her and she let the spear dissipate. "I forgive you."

Raynare dug her fingers into shirt, holding onto him until they both spun to the side. A lance of pure light streaked past. Dohnaseek's hand was outstretched, disappointment etched into his face.

"Oh, if you only held for a second longer then I would've killed two birds with one stone." He formed more weapons of light around him. Raynare let out a breath, unleashing her own wings and she condensed the light particles to form two daggers. "So you did get stronger but still not enough."

Issei raised the gun in his hand, aiming the weapon at his head before it clattered to the ground. "No guns."

Issei took out the silver hilt from his pocket and let it fall to his side. "No swords."

"What? You're going to fight with your bare hands." The man taunted, his victory was set in place.

"Yes." Dohnaseek raised his arm ready to rain them down with light. A malicious smile settled on his lips. Issei socked him in the mouth, grabbing the sides of his head and smashed his forehead into his nose. Blood seeped out of the man's broken nose and he instinctively brought a hand to cover himself. That proved to be a mistake. Issei leapt, his knee thrusted forward into his stomach. The breath left the fallen angel and a vicious elbow struck his jaw, rattling his teeth. Issei kept beating his face in, anger and hatred burning in his veins as he struck him over and over again. Issei would make sure the man would never laugh again.

Grabbing a fistful of the man's coat, Issei hurled him against the wall. The fallen angel flexed his wings batting away the daggers that was thrown at him. Raynare stabbed with her light spear, piercing Dohnaseek's shoulder. Dohnaseek caught her next stab by the wrist. Shattering the spear in his shoulder, he slashed with a light sword. Letting go of the sword, he knocked her back and she sailed through the air, slamming against the pillar with a thud.

Issei grabbed the outstretched arm in a lock, snapping it and bone protruded from the elbow. A scream reverberated in the room, one which Issei reveled in. Issei kicked his feet out from under Dohnaseek. A knee once again smashed into broken cartilage. Issei could hear Raynare getting up, a raspy cough and blood spat on the ground. He punted the man, the force of it was enough to embed the fallen angel into the wall.

Raynare approached Issei slowly, blood dribbled down her face and each step made her grimace. Issei was by her side, noting the bruise that was forming on her once flawless skin. He reached out and gently touched her abdomen. She hissed. Broken ribs, he noted.

His attention turned to the sound of crumbling stone and his wheezing pants. The fallen angel emitted a green light that covered him, the protruding bone snapped back into his arm and his wheezing morphed into delight as he watched his wounds disappear.

"You can't hurt me." Dohnaseek took flight, black wings beating in the air and the same arrogant smirk plastered on his face. "A wasted effort. I can heal from anything. Now, die-"

Foot met face. A shock wave from the speed of the kick. The fallen angel did not take that too kindly and roared, slashing down with a sword of light. Issei twisted his body, the sword cutting a gash down his arm. He dropped down and leapt back from a thrown spear.

A huge array of light blinked into existence, hundreds of light spears formed in an instant that made Raynare pale. The spears were larger than any she could form and if she had to guess faster than she could throw. She looked towards Issei. He didn't flinch.

"Disappear." Dohnaseek said with a wave of his hand, light rained down.

Issei's fingers made a complicated sign and an orange barrier shimmered into existence around them. Dohnaseek continued forming more spears, firing down at the two. Issei stood with utmost concentration, the barrier held but bit by bit, cracks began to form.

"Close your eyes." Raynare obeyed the order and Issei thrust out his hand, a blinding light that stunned Dohnaseek. She tensed her muscles, leaping, her wings beat once as she gathered light in her hands. Dohnaseek recovered from his blindness and swerved to avoid her. But he was too slow and a desperate cut sliced through bones and feathers. The man screamed and flailed uselessly in the air. He tumbled to the ground in a heap.

Issei was on top of him, bashing the man's head with a meaty thump. Blood splattering across the floor as he let loose all the rage that had been building inside of him. The man clawed at his face and arms in desperation. Another blow, the Sacred Gear working to heal him but that made Issei angrier.

The fallen had stolen her gift. He raised another bloody fist in the air.

THUNK!

She didn't deserve to die. She was too young. She had hopes and dreams.

THUNK!

She had a life.

THUMP!

She _deserved_ better!

A hand wrapped around his wrist. He tried to wrench it free and spun around to see Raynare's violet eyes.

"That's enough, Issei."

He stared down at what used to be the man's head was now just a pile of bone and grey matter. Exhaustion hit him, all the rage replaced by sorrow. A light floated above the fallen angel and he cupped his hands together. Asia's Sacred Gear.

Issei rushed over with desperation in his steps.

"Please." He begged. "Please, be alive."

He cut the bonds from the cross, gently cradling Asia's body to his when he saw it. A breath. A shallow breath but there was hope and he let the light sink into her body. The retrieval of her Sacred Gear should keep her alive. It has to.

"Issei." A tiny voice, fragile and weak, called out to him. She was pale, so very pale and close to death.

"Hang on, Asia. You're gonna be fine, rest now."

"I was...so happy...that you were my friend." No, this wasn't happening. Not again. What kind of sick god would do this to him? "Both of you."

Raynare didn't know what to say to her sincere words.

"If I had more time...would you still be my friend?"

" _Always._ You're going to live. Please. Live for me, we can go to arcades, meet my friends, don't die." He hugged her, trying to channel his energy into her body. Why couldn't this work!? "Don't die."

Raynare had never heard such a broken, defeated tone from Issei. He was strong. He had to be. For them.

Asia reached up to pat his cheek, rubbing away his tears. "Thank you." And she was gone.

Issei became aware of another presence. A shuffle at the back of the room and he turned.

She was dressed in a simple black top and jeans. Long black hair that reached past her shoulders and she wore the necklace with a silver triquetra. In her hands, she tapped a black umbrella on the ground and a bouquet of white lilies burst from the air into her hands.

Everything around them stilled. Raynare's hand stuck to reach out to him. He spied a hint of red hair by the staircase, foot raised in midair. Everything was muted. No sound except for her footfalls.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it, Issei?" She said.

He didn't answer, choosing to gaze at silver eyes that were warm and nurturing. She had deathly, pale white skin as if she never stepped foot in the sunlight. She walked closer inspecting Asia for a moment before taking out a pocket watch.

"Who are you?" He asked slowly.

"You don't know?"

He knew, or so he thought once he saw saw her close her pocket watch. She took a seat on a fallen piece of rubble.

"I didn't know that we met before," he said.

"Oh, the young magician Mephistopheles brought you back. I was just there for a few minutes. My sister bargained quite hard for you," she paused, bringing a pale finger to her cheek. Issei scrunched his face. "You've upset her again, you know. Always trading inches of your life away. I believe you traded three years not too long ago."

"It was important."

"Hmm... if you say so."

Issei remained silent. What else could he say to her? Did he bargain? He had to try.

"What will it take for her to live again?"

"Her time is up, Issei. I can't do anything but guide her." She nudged her head over. He turned and there she was, Asia was standing there. Ethereal and dressed in a simple white gown.

"I-Issei. You're h-here."

"Asia…"

"Is this what you do?" He asked her. She strode from the rubble and approached Asia. The girl tried to hide behind Issei but the woman knelt down and smiled, offering the bouquet to her.

"I simply take them by the hand and lead them through the fog."

"But, I don't want to go," she pleaded.

"Nobody wants to but I'm here so no-one has to go alone." Asia nodded, reaching forward to grasp her hand. Issei watched. There was a way. For her to live but would he risk it?

"Wait! Will you give her more time?" The woman paused, her eyes narrowed. "As her final request, _please_ , will you give her more time?"

"I know your plan, Issei. Do you intend for her to become a devil?" Asia gasped from behind him.

"No, I'm giving her a choice."

"Of her own free will?"

"She deserves better."

"Doesn't everyone?" she replied.

Issei did not respond. The woman turned slowly, stepping back under the hole. The pocket watch clicked open.

"A week of my life for five minutes." He begged her. The woman's eyes crinkled in thought, a delicate brow raised before shaking her head.

"I want a year." Issei stiffened. A year of his life so that Asia had five minutes to live. There was no contest. Five minutes was enough. If she chose, that year could be centuries.

"Fine, take it then." The woman grinned, tracing a finger on Issei's chin. She stared at him with warm silver eyes like two moons were in her eye sockets. A soft kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you."

"I'll be back for you, Issei. Everyone must get a visit from little ol' me."

"Not anytime soon, I hope." She gave an ominous smile before snapping her fingers.

* * *

 **What are your thoughts on this chapter? Follow, favourite and review. See you next chapter.**


	7. Update!

Hello guys, it's been a while since I've updated this story. I haven't had the heart to continue writing this but a friend of mine has encouraged me to write again and I feel like redoing this story again but with a more fleshed out universe and characters. I have been struck by a grand-scale inspiration and have decided to elaborate a whole lot more on Issei's history as well as learning about a few more things when it comes to writing villains.

I'll try my best but at the end of the day, this story is for my personal enjoyment.

I'll see you guys in **Seize Our Day**.


End file.
